Chewing efficiency in children with motor speech disorders.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate chewing efficiency in children with speech sound disorders (SSD). With a focus on those with motor speech disorders (MSD).

Method: A clinical sample of 101 children with SSDs (78 with MSD), aged 4-9 years, and a control group of 76 typically developing (TD) children participated. Chewing efficiency was assessed using the two-colour Hue-Check^© chewing gum test. A computer-based image analysis measured colour mixing after 20 chewing cycles, generating the outcome variable SDHue.

Results: An independent samples t-test showed that children with SSD chewed less efficiently than TD children. A one-way ANOVA revealed that children with MSD + (i.e., all children with MSD who also had concomitant language-oriented diagnoses [LD] and/or oral motor developmental delay [ODD]) aged 7-9 years had significantly lower chewing efficiency than age-matched TD peers (p < 0.001, η² = 0.305).

Conclusion: Children with MSD demonstrated reduced chewing efficiency compared to their TD peers. Possibly reflecting a broader, not yet fully understood, symptom complex. Oral motor developmental delay (ODD) was common across the entire SSD group. These findings underline the importance of future research exploring symptom interrelations and guiding targeted interventions.