Profile of speech therapists trained in orofacial myology in Brazil

Abstract

Purpose To characterize the profile of Brazilian speech therapists with specialized training in orofacial myology (OM). Methods Descriptive and exploratory, cross-sectional study, with a quantitative approach, carried out between September 2022 and February 2023, in partnership with CFFa. Eighty-seven speech therapists with specialized training in OM participated. Results showed female predominance, age between 41 and 50 years, and time of specialized training in OM between 16-20 years; most with specialist titles in the Southeast of Brazil. Most work in offices/outpatient clinics and/or clinics with interdisciplinary actions with Medicine and Dentistry; seeing adults and children, mainly in a private sector. As to OM domains there was a predominance of rehabilitation of soft structures and oral habits, and most use technologies: light - reception and assistance, light-hard - evaluation and therapy, and hard - photobiomodulation (40.2%). Conclusion The Brazilian speech therapists with specialized training in OM participating in the study are mostly women over 41 years old, who hold the title of specialists, and carry out practices in various domains and levels of technology in the area, with a predominance of diagnosis and rehabilitation of oromyofunctional disorders.