MMBGR protocol - diagnostic accuracy of clinical examination in infants.
Anna Luiza Dos Santos Matos, Giédre Berretin-Felix, Íkaro Daniel de Carvalho Barreto and 2 others
PMID 41370521WHAT IT FOUND
The MMBGR protocol identified orofacial tone issues reasonably well when scored from infant photos and videos.
It was less reliable for younger infants and for referral decisions, so use it as a guide, not a stand-alone diagnosis.
Key findings
01In infants aged 6 to 11 months, the tone domain had 70.0% accuracy and was classified as reasonable.
02For infants aged 12 to 23 months, an orofacial motricity disorder cutoff of 14 had 88.9% accuracy and was classified as ideal.
03Referral to speech-language pathology was classified as not ideal in both age groups, with 57.5% accuracy for 6 to 11 months and 50.0% accuracy for 12 to 23 months.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The accuracy test was based on photos and videos, not live infant examinations, so some domains such as tone may be harder to judge without palpation. The sample was small, with 40 cases in the 6 to 11 month group and 36 cases in the 12 to 23 month group. The cases came from an existing image database rather than random recruitment, and the study used adapted accuracy labels because of the small number of data per group. The intended evaluator pool fell from 13 initial consents to 8 specialists, and the South region was not reached because of withdrawals. The protocol's referral decisions were not ideal in both age groups, so it should not be used alone to decide referrals.
Declared interests
The authors reported no financial support and no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat the MMBGR cutoffs as a stand-alone diagnosis for infants aged 6 to 11 months. In that group, structures, functions, OM disorder, and referral to speech-language pathology were classified as not ideal, and referral accuracy was 57.5%, so live examination and clinical judgment are still needed.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →