Normative Nasalance Scores for Native French-speaking Children
The velopharyngeal mechanisms (in particular the movements of the soft palate) is frequently affected by craniofacial anomalies such as cleft lip and palate. Nasofibroscopy is frequently used in clinical care to assess the velopharyngeal function because it allows for direct visualization of the velopharyngeal port. However, it is an invasive procedure that could not be tolerated well by children. Nasometry is a non-invasive acoustic measurement technique which can be used to objectively assess a velopharyngeal dysfunction (whether it can be heard or not), and thus supplement the perceptual evaluation conducted by a trained clinician. The main objective of this study is to establish normative nasalance scores with the KayPENTAX Nasometer (Nasometer II 6450 model) for native French-speaking children between 8 and 10 years old.
• Holders of parental authority and patients informed and not opposing their participation in the study
• Patients aged 8 to 10 years old
• native-French speakers (French from France including the French overseas departments and territories)
• Educated in France in an ordinary environment
• Patients without a cleft
• Patients with a cleft : patients with a hard and/or soft palate cleft and for whom the perceptual speech-language pathology evaluation revealed a velopharyngeal insufficiency