Phonology in Swedish-speaking 5-year-olds born with unilateral cleft lip and palate and the relationship with consonant production at 3 years of age

Abstract

Purpose: At ∼3 years of age ∼50% of the children born with cleft palate present with phonological/articulatory difficulties. Differences between children with and without cleft palate have been reported to decline with age; however, the phonology in children with cleft palate at pre-school age/early school age has rarely been explored. The purpose of this study was to assess phonology in children with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) at age 5 and its relationship with performances at 3 years of age.

Method: The study included 29 children with UCLP and 20 without UCLP. Percentage correct consonants adjusted for age (PCC-A) and number of consistent phonological simplification processes were assessed from phonetic transcriptions. In addition, a descriptive analysis of phonological/articulatory processes was performed.

Result: The children with UCLP displayed significantly lower PCC-A and more phonological processes at age 5 years than peers without UCLP. The correlations between the outcomes at 3 and 5 years of age were significant.

Conclusion: Still at 5 years of age many children with cleft palate have phonological problems and it is possible to identify children at risk for impaired phonology at earlier age.

Keywords:

• Cleft palate
• phonology
• articulation
• percentage correct consonants

Acknowledgements

Thanks to speech-language pathologist Maria Sporre, who transcribed part of the material. This research was supported by grants from Stiftelsen Sunnerdahls handikappfond, Region Skåne, and funds administered by Skåne University Hospital.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Appendix: Definitions of phonological/articulatory processes used consistently.