Habilidades orais em crianças: validação de instrumento e influência de hábitos orais e do aleitamento materno

Abstract

This study aimed to validate an instrument designed to assess the oral motor skills in children at 9 months of age, as well as to assess the influence of oral behaviors and breastfeeding on them. Six judges with oralfacial motricity experience and 125 children belonging to the 4th Regional Health of Rio Grande do Sul State participated in this study. For the content analysis, the instrument was sent to judges in order to verify the agreement about its relevance and pertinence. In a second moment, the instrument was applied in children. A questionnaire answered by parents investigated the presence of oral behaviors in this population. The results showed satisfactory content validity and reliability; however, the factorial validity indicated a need for revision since five of the eleven items not shown to be contributing to assess the oral motor skills in children at this age. Regarding the influence of oral behaviors and breastfeeding, the pacifier negatively affected the abilities of suction while breastfeeding positively affected them. It was also found that although most children did not present ability to use the cup, the behavior of putting objects in mouth has promoted the development of such ability. We concluded that the instrument proposed can be use to evaluate the oral motor skills in children at 9 months of age. The oral motor skills developed well when breastfeeding was present.