Relationship Between Auditory-Perceptual and Objective Measures of Resonance in Children with Cleft Palate: Effects of Intelligibility and Dysphonia

Objective: To investigate the relationship between auditory-perceptual ratings of resonance and nasometry scores in children with cleft palate. Factors which may impact this relationship were examined including articulation, intelligibility, dysphonia, sex, and cleft-related diagnosis.

Design: Retrospective, observational cohort study.

Setting: Outpatient pediatric cranio-facial anomalies clinic.

Patients: Four hundred patients <18 years of age identified with CP ± L, seen for auditory-perceptual and nasometry evaluations of hypernasality as well as assessments of articulation and voice.

Main outcome measure: Relationship between auditory-perceptual ratings of resonance and nasometry scores.

Results: Pearson's correlations indicated that auditory-perceptual resonance ratings and nasometry scores were significantly correlated across oral-sound stimuli on the picture-cued portion of the MacKay-Kummer SNAP-R Test (r values .69 to.72) and the zoo reading passage (r = .72). Linear regression indicated that intelligibility (p ≤ .001) and dysphonia (p = .009) significantly impacted the relationship between perceptual and objective assessments of resonance on the Zoo passage. Moderation analyses indicated that the relationship between auditory-perceptual and nasometry values weakened as severity of speech intelligibility increased (P < .001) and when children presented with moderate dysphonia (p ≤ .001). No significant impact of articulation testing or sex were observed.

Conclusions: Speech intelligibility and dysphonia alter the relationship between auditory-perceptual and nasometry assessments of hypernasality in children with cleft palate. SLPs should be aware of potential sources of auditory-perceptual bias and shortcomings of the Nasometer when following patients with limited intelligibility or moderate dysphonia. Future study may identify the mechanisms by which intelligibility and dysphonia affect auditory-perceptual and nasometry evaluations.