Assessment of Breathing Pattern among Mouth Breather Child: An Institutional Based Study

ABSTRACT

Background:Chronic mouth breathing in children leads to pathological adaptations in the postural and morphological characteristics of the stomato-gnathic system. Such unfavourable developmental changes predispose the child to many problems, including obstructive sleep apnea, which is now a growing public concern. Hence; we planned the present study to assess breathing pattern among mouth breather child. Methods: 30 children were selcted, 15 of which were mouth breathers (MB) and 15 of which were nose breathers (NB). The age of the patients ranged from 8-10 years. In this study, the following variables of the respiratory cycle were analyzed by the plethysmography tidal volume (Vt), respiratory frequency ( f ), minute ventilation (VE), ratio of time to peak inspiratory flow to inspiratory time (PifT/Ti), mean inspiratory flow (Vt/Ti), rib cage contribution towards Vt(%RC/Vt), and phase angle (PhAng). Results: A total of 10 subjects were present in both the groups each. The mean age of subjects on group MB was 8.89 years and in group NB was 9.11 years. Number of male patients in group MB was 6 and in group NB was 5. The variables in MB and NB groups were comparable and statistically non-significant. Conclusion: From the results of the present study, this can be concluded that there was no significant difference in the breathing pattern between nose breathers and mouth breather children.