Developing a tool for predicting velopharyngeal closure based on speech characteristics and its correspondence with the velopharyngeal orifice area

Introduction: Individuals with cleft lip and palate may present specific speech disorders due to velopharyngeal dysfunction. Objective: To develop a tool in order to predict velopharyngeal closure (VFC), based on the combination of speech symptoms of velopharyngeal dysfunction, assessed in the auditory-perceptual evaluation and its correspondence with the instrumental measurement of velopharyngeal orifice size. Methods: Seventy eight patients with repaired cleft palate, aged 6 to 45 years, participated in this study. The patients undergone aerodynamic evaluation by means of pressure-flow technique to determine velopharyngeal closure (velopharyngeal orifice area) and audiovisual recording of speech samples. The samples were edited and analyzed by three speech-language pathologists for rating the symptoms: hypernasality, audible nasal air emission, velopharyngeal competence rating, nasal turbulence, weak pressure consonant, active symptoms (compensatory articulation error) and facial grimacing. Correlation between the perceptual speech characteristics and the velopharyngeal closure was performed by Spearman\'s correlation coefficient. Two statistical models (discriminant and exploratory) were developed to predict the VFC. The sensitivity and specificity tests were performed in order to verify the clinical applicability of the models. Results: There was a strong correlation between all speech symptoms and VFC. Both models showed 88.7% of accuracy on predicting VFC. The sensitivity and specificity for the discriminant model were 92.3% and 97.2%, respectively, and 96.2% and 94.4% for the exploratory model, respectively. Conclusion: In the present study two tools were developed and presented to predict VFC based on speech symptoms and its correspondence with the velopharyngeal closure determined by the objective evaluation. Both tools may contribute to the diagnosis of velopharyngeal dysfunction in clinical practice. (AU)