Fell Matthew, Medina Jibby, Fitzsimons Kate, Seifert Miriam, Roberts Anne, Russell Craig, Deacon Scott
North Bristol NHS Trust, Bristol, United Kingdom.
Clinical Effectiveness Unit, Royal College of Surgeons, London, United Kingdom.
Cleft Palate Craniofac J. 2022 Apr;59(4):453-461. doi: 10.1177/10556656211010620. Epub 2021 Apr 23.
This study sought to investigate the association between maxillary growth and speech outcomes for children with a repaired unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) at 5 years of age.
In all, 521 children (180 females and 341 males) with a nonsyndromic complete UCLP, born between 2007 and 2012 in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland were included in this study.
Maxillary growth was analyzed using dental models scored by the 5-Year-Olds' index, and perceptual speech analyses were scored by the Cleft Audit Protocol for Speech - Augmented rating.
Forty-one percent of the children achieved good maxillary growth (scores 1 and 2 on 5-Year-Old' index). Fifty percent of the children achieved normal speech (achieving UK speech standard 1). Maxillary growth was not found to have an impact on speech outcome when described by the 3 UK National Cleft Lip and Palate Speech Audit Outcome Standards. Analysis according to individual speech parameters showed dentalizations to be less prevalent in children with maxillary growth compared to and growth ( = .001). The remaining speech parameters within resonance, nasal airflow, and articulation categories were not significantly associated with maxillary growth.
The findings from this study suggest that children with a history of complete UCLP, who have maxillary growth, are not at a higher risk of having major speech errors compared to children with or maxillary growth at 5 years of age.
