Factors Affecting the Speech Nasality in Children with Cleft Palate

Arooba Asmat; Atia-ur- Rehman; Humaira Waseem; Insbat Asmat; Hafiz Muhammad Usama Basheer; Azmat Rehmat; Menail Zaheer

doi:10.52229/ajahs.v3i2.327

Arooba Asmat University Institute of Health Professional Technologies, Faculty of Allied Heath Sciences, University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan
Atia-ur- Rehman 1University Institute of Health Professional Technologies, Faculty of Allied Heath Sciences, University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan
Humaira Waseem University Institute of Health Professional Technologies, Faculty of Allied Heath Sciences, University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan
Insbat Asmat University Institute of Health Professional Technologies, Faculty of Allied Heath Sciences, University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan
Hafiz Muhammad Usama Basheer University Institute of Health Professional Technologies, Faculty of Allied Heath Sciences, University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan
Azmat Rehmat University Institute of Health Professional Technologies, Faculty of Allied Heath Sciences, University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan
Menail Zaheer University Institute of Health Professional Technologies, Faculty of Allied Heath Sciences, University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan

DOI: https://doi.org/10.52229/ajahs.v3i2.327

Keywords: Cleft palate, Speech, Nasality, Temple Street Scale, Consanguineous, Genetics

Abstract

Cleft palate is a congenital deformity affecting the speech production skills of children born th with it. Pakistan has the 4 largest number of cleft births in the world. The gender values, family history and age greatly affect the speech nasality in children with cleft palate.

Objective: To determine the factors affecting the speech nasality in children with cleft palate.

Methods: A total of 120 children with cleft palate, ages ranging from 8 to 12 years were selected by cross sectional purposive sampling method, selected from Clapp General Hospital, Lahore. Demographic data were collected in terms of age, gender, family history and cousin marriage, by modifying Temple Street Scale. SPSS version 21.0 was used for data analysis.

Results: The descriptive analysis of age revealed that highest frequency of speech nasality was at 9 years (35%). The gender distribution indicates increased percentage of speech nasality (62.5%) in males than females. The frequency of children having family histories was 99 (82.5%). The frequency of consanguineous marriages was higher (83.3%) than the non-consanguineous (16.7%).

Conclusions: It was concluded that gender, age and genetics greatly affect the speech nasality of individuals with cleft palate. So, these points must be considered seriously because prevention is better than cure.