Can Peripheral Hearing Justify the Speech Disorders in Children with Operated Cleft Palate?

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Any impairment in the hearing ability of a child with cleft lip and palate may cause difficulties in receptive and expressive language. Purpose: Check the association between velopharyngeal dysfunction (VPD), compensatory articulation (CA), and peripheral hearing loss in children with cleft palate surgery. Methods: Retrospective study with 60 children (group 1: presence of VPD and CA; group 2: absence of VPD, presence of CA; group 3: presence of VDP, absence of CA; group 4: absence of VPD and CA), age 4 to 5 years old, with cleft palate surgery, through the analysis of the hearing, VP, and speech evaluations. Results  Group 4 presented 80% normal hearing; group 1 had 60% hearing loss. The conductive hearing loss type was the most frequent. The glottal stop was the most frequent in group 1 and the middorsum palatal plosive in group 2. There was no significant association (p = 0.05) between hearing loss and the presence of compensatory articulations (groups 2 and 4), nor between hearing loss and the presence of VPD (groups 3 and 4; p = 0.12). Statistical significance (p = 0.025) was found when the group with VPD was associated with the group with CA, that is, group 1 with the control group (group 4). Conclusion:  Significant association between peripheral hearing loss, compensatory articulations, and VPD was verified for the children in group 1, which not only presented compensatory articulations but also VPD...