title: Reproducibility of 3D kinematics and surface electromyography measurements of mastication.
abstract: The aim of this study was to determine the measurement reproducibility for a procedure evaluating the mastication process and to estimate the smallest detectable differences of 3D kinematic and surface electromyography (sEMG) variables. Kinematics of mandible movements and sEMG activity of the masticatory muscles were obtained over two sessions with four conditions: two food textures (biscuit and bread) of two sizes (small and large). Twelve healthy adults (mean age 29.1 years) completed the study. The second to the fifth chewing cycle of 5 bites were used for analyses. The reproducibility per outcome variable was calculated with an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and a Bland-Altman analysis was applied to determine the standard error of measurement relative error of measurement and smallest detectable differences of all variables. ICCs ranged from 0.71 to 0.98 for all outcome variables. The outcome variables consisted of four bite and fourteen chewing cycle variables. The relative standard error of measurement of the bite variables was up to 17.3% for 'time-to-swallow', 'time-to-transport' and 'number of chewing cycles', but ranged from 31.5% to 57.0% for 'change of chewing side'. The relative standard error of measurement ranged from 4.1% to 24.7% for chewing cycle variables and was smaller for kinematic variables than sEMG variables. In general, measurements obtained with 3D kinematics and sEMG are reproducible techniques to assess the mastication process. The duration of the chewing cycle and frequency of chewing were the best reproducible measurements. Change of chewing side could not be reproduced. The published measurement error and smallest detectable differences will aid the interpretation of the results of future clinical studies using the same study variables.
authors.affiliation: HAN University of Applied Sciences, Institute of Health Studies, Postbox 6960, 6503 GL Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Sint Maartenskliniek Research, Postbox 9011, 6500 GM Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: lianne.remijn@han.nl.
authors.forename: Lianne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Remijn
authors.affiliation: Sint Maartenskliniek Research, Postbox 9011, 6500 GM Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Brenda E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Groen
authors.affiliation: James Cook University, College of Healthcare Sciences, Division of Tropical Health and Medicine, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia; Leiden University Medical Center, Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Postbox 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Renée
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Speyer
authors.affiliation: Achmea Health Insurance Company, Postbox 1717, 3800 BS Amersfoort, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van Limbeek
authors.affiliation: Radboud University Medical Center, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, IQ Healthcare and Department of Rehabilitation, Postbox 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Maria W G
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Nijhuis-van der Sanden
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D004576:Electromyography / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005502:Food; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D007568:Jaw / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008409:Mastication / Q000502:physiology*; D008410:Masticatory Muscles / Q000502:physiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
keywords: Chewing movement; Kinematics; Mastication; Textures; sEMG