Evaluation of reliability of perioral muscle pressure measurements using a newly developed device with a lip piece

Purpose: We examined the reliability of measurements using a newly developed perioral muscle pressure measuring device with a lip piece in healthy adults. Methods: Subjects were 40 healthy men (25.8 years) with normal stomatognathic function. Perioral muscle pressure measuring device with a lip piece was used to measure upper lip, lower lip and tongue pressure, and a balloon-based measurement device was used to measure tongue and cheek pressure. Each measurement was taken twice with a 1-min interval between the two measurements. We determined intra-rater reliability by using the intra-class correlation coefficient as a test of relative reliability. As a test of absolute reliability, Bland–Altman analysis was used to assess systematic bias and the 95% confidence interval of the minimal detectable change was calculated. Additionally, the coefficient of variation was calculated. The Spearman–Brown formula was calculated the number of measurements needed to achieve a confidence coefficient ≥0.9. Each set of measurements was followed by a second set that were taken 1 week later. Results: All measurements showed high values of intra-class correlation coefficient. Upper lip, tongue, and cheek pressure can be determined based on a single measurement, while lower lip pressure requires averaging twice. No systematic bias was observed. The coefficients of variation of measurements were almost the same between the two devices. Conclusion: Measurements were highly reliable regardless of the type of perioral muscles. Our findings suggest that the method described in this study is useful as a quantitative chair side method for examining perioral muscle pressure.

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Opracowanie ze środków MNiSW w ramach umowy 812/P-DUN/2016 na działalność upowszechniającą naukę.