Background: Children with cerebral palsy (CP) frequently struggle with oral motor skills deficiencies. In addition to postural control, respiratory control, sensory adaptation, sensorimotor facilitation, and direct feeding, the recently developed oral motor facilitation technique (OMFT) offers full oral motor therapy. Objectives: The objectives of this study were to: (1) measure the impact of OMFT on treating oral motor problems, (2) to assess the impact of the OMFT on the quality of life (QoL) for children who have oral motor difficulties and their caregivers. Study Design: One-arm interventional study. Methods: The purpose of this one-arm interventional study design was to determine how OMFT affected the oral motor abilities and overall well-being of children with CP and the adults who cared for them. The number of selected children was 30, and OMFT was conducted for 6 weeks (12 sessions). Using the oral motor assessment scale, pediatric QoL inventory (CP module), and Feeding/Swallowing Impact Survey, the impacts on oral motor skills and the QoL of children with CP and their caregivers were evaluated both before and 6 weeks after OMFT. Differences among periods of OMFT were analyzed using the paired t -test, and the significance level (α) was set at P 0.326, 95% CI (0.102–0.105) and t value (1.0000). In this study, QoL of children improved significantly with P < 0.000, 95% CI (0.011–0.003), and t value (3.699). Furthermore, QoL of caregivers was also found to be improved significantly with P < 0.000, 95% CI (0.308–0.767), and t value (4.796). Conclusion: It was found that OMFT was an efficient and helpful oral motor therapy regimen to enhance oral motor skills and also the QoL of CP children and their caregivers.
Naaz et al. (Tue,) studied this question.