An exploratory study on speech and hearing outcomes in children with cleft lip and palate
- Author:
Hasherah Mohd Ibrahim
;
Fatin Hanim Mohamed Yusoff
;
Kartini Ahmad
;
Sandra Van Dort
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Speech;
hearing;
cleft lip and palate
- From:
The Medical Journal of Malaysia
2015;70(6):321-325
- CountryMalaysia
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Introduction: Little is known about the treatment outcomes
of children with cleft lip and/or palate (CLP) receiving
surgical care for primary lip and palate closure in Malaysia.
Objectives: This study examined the speech and hearing
status of Malay-speaking children with CLP residing in Kuala
Lumpur.
Methods: Parents whose children were between the age of 5
and 7 years were recruited via the Cleft Lip and Palate
Association of Malaysia (CLAPAM) registry. Parents
completed a survey and the children completed a speech
and hearing assessment at the Audiology and Speech
Sciences Clinic, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
Outcomes: Speech measures include nasality rating,
nasalance scores, articulation errors and speech
intelligibility rating, while hearing measures include hearing
thresholds and tympanometry results for each child.
Results: Out of 118 registered members who fulfilled the
inclusion criteria, 21 agreed to participate in the study. The
overall speech and hearing status of children in this sample
were poor. Only four (19%) participants had normal speech
intelligibility rating and normal hearing bilaterally. In terms
of overall cleft management, only four (19%) participants
were seen by a cleft team while seven (33%) had never had
their hearing tested prior to this study.
Conclusion: Participants in this sample had poor outcomes
in speech and hearing and received uncoordinated and
fragmented cleft care. This finding calls for further large
scale research and collaborative efforts into improving and
providing centralised, multidisciplinary care for children
born with CLP.
- Full text:P020160224391533878811.pdf
