Sammanfattning Bakgrund I dagsläget saknas normvärden för läpp- och tungkraft hos friska personer och dess korrelation med sväljkapacitet, samt hur de skiljer sig mellan olika åldrar och kön. När dessa normvärden fastställs kan det möjliggöra en differentiering mellan normal och avvikande läpp- och tungkraft. Syfte  Syftet med studien var att samla in normdata för läpp- och tungkraft och sväljkapacitet för friska personer (över 20 år) och personer med misstänkt dysfagi (MD)/dysfagi detta för att jämföra resultaten mellan grupperna. Ett sekundärt syfte var att undersöka korrelationen mellan läpp- och tungkraft och sväljkapacitet. Metod  Studien omfattade 104 deltagare varav 84 friska personer och 20 personer med MD/dysfagi. Läppkraft mättes med en läppkraftsmätare (Sauter FH 500) och tungkraft med Iowa Oral Performance Instrument (IOPI). Sväljkapaciteten hos deltagarna mättes med Timed Water Swallow Test (TWST). För att analysera datat användes T-test, one-way ANOVA och Pearsons korrelationskofficent.  Resultat  Studien fann att män hade en signifikant högre läppkraft än kvinnor. En svag positiv korrelation hittades mellan en högre sväljkapacitet och en högre läpp- och tungkraft. Den friska gruppen hade en signifikant högre sväljkapacitet än gruppen med MD/dysfagi.  Slutsatser Resultaten från denna studie påvisar att män har en signifikant högre läppkraft, men inga andra skillnader hittades mellan kön eller ålder gällande läpp- och tungkraft. Mätning av endast läpp- och tungkraft anses inte tillräcklig för att identifiera potentiell dysfagi. Däremot tyder resultaten på att en lägre sväljkapacitet kan indikera sväljsvårigheter.

<p>Lip force has been found to affect the ability to achieve satisfying speech production and swallowing. A normative value for lip force in adults has been measured to 15 Newton (N). Corresponding value for children measured with Lip Force Meter 100 (LF100) does not exist. In the current study lip force was measured in children between the ages of five and ten years. The aim of the study was to obtain normative values for children with typical development in separate age groups. Production of syllable with initial bilabial plosive was further calculated to see if any correlation between lip force and syllable production existed. An examination of learning effect in repeated measures was also executed. The age group 5:0-5:11 only included four participants. This age group was therefore not included in the statistical measurements.</p><p>The common mean for lip force in all children was 14.98 N. The mean for each age group was 12.75 N for 5:0-5:11 year olds, 14.69 N for 6:0-6:11, 16.93 N for 7:0-7:11, 14.97 N for 8:0-8:11 and 14.14 N for the age group 9:0-9:11 years. In the current study no significant differences in lip force was found between age groups.</p><p>The common mean for syllable production in all children was 5.50 syllables/second. A significant difference between the ages six and seven year olds as well as six and nine year olds was found, where the older age groups showed higher values. No significant correlation was found between lip force and syllable production.</p><p>Analysis of the learning effect over three lip force measurements showed tendencies for increased lip force at the last measure. The difference was not significant. In the present study no statistical measurements for gender differences were executed for each separate age group due to small numbers. Measurements in age group 6:0-9:11 showed tendencies for higher values of both lip force and syllable production for girls. These differences were not significant.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p>

Lip force has been found to affect the ability to achieve satisfying speech production and swallowing. A normative value for lip force in adults has been measured to 15 Newton (N). Corresponding value for children measured with Lip Force Meter 100 (LF100) does not exist. In the current study lip force was measured in children between the ages of five and ten years. The aim of the study was to obtain normative values for children with typical development in separate age groups. Production of syllable with initial bilabial plosive was further calculated to see if any correlation between lip force and syllable production existed. An examination of learning effect in repeated measures was also executed. The age group 5:0-5:11 only included four participants. This age group was therefore not included in the statistical measurements. The common mean for lip force in all children was 14.98 N. The mean for each age group was 12.75 N for 5:0-5:11 year olds, 14.69 N for 6:0-6:11, 16.93 N for 7:0-7:11, 14.97 N for 8:0-8:11 and 14.14 N for the age group 9:0-9:11 years. In the current study no significant differences in lip force was found between age groups. The common mean for syllable production in all children was 5.50 syllables/second. A significant difference between the ages six and seven year olds as well as six and nine year olds was found, where the older age groups showed higher values. No significant correlation was found between lip force and syllable production. Analysis of the learning effect over three lip force measurements showed tendencies for increased lip force at the last measure. The difference was not significant. In the present study no statistical measurements for gender differences were executed for each separate age group due to small numbers. Measurements in age group 6:0-9:11 showed tendencies for higher values of both lip force and syllable production for girls. These differences were not significant.