Relationship of Perceptual Evaluation for Resonance Disorders to Nasalance Scores in Children with Cleft Palate
Benjamas Prathanee PhD*, Tawitree Pumnum BSc*, Cholada Seepuaham BSc*
Affiliation : * Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Objective : To determine relationship between screening perceptual assessment for resonance disorders and nasalance
scores.
Material and Method: Screening perceptual assessment of 115 children with cleft palate with or without lip was performed
to determine its relationship to nasalance sores. The perceptual assessment 3-scale (-1: hyponasality; 0: normal; +1:
hypernasality) was compared to nasalance scores based on nasometry. To find the weight of Kappa, nasalance scores were
converted to a 3-ordinal scale with 3 criteria for cut-off points (-1: nasalance score -1, -1.5 and -2 SD lower than the mean;
0: nasalance score + 1 SD, + 1.5 and + 2 SD of the mean; and +1: nasalance score + 1 SD, + 1.5, and + 2 SD greater than
the mean).
Results : Correlations between screening perceptual assessment and nasalance scores were good to excellent. The percentage
of agreement was good, the Kappa reliability was fair to moderate in passages of a mixture of oral and nasal consonants (My
House) and devoid of nasal consonants (Laying Hen). A weak relationship was found for the nasal passage (Winter).
Conclusion : The relationship of speech assessments in the present study varied, as it depended on the different variables and
analysis. To ensure a strong relationship, further prospective study is needed.
Keywords : Perceptual evaluation, Nasalance score, Cleft, Resonance disorders
