Repair of Cleft Palate in Adult Patients; Impact of Speech Therapy Following Surgical Intervention in Africa

Abstract

Cleft lip and palate anomalies constitute both aesthetic and functional impairments for affected individuals. While an individual with an unrepaired cleft palate may adjust somewhat to the associated feeding challenges as he or she gets older, the consequent speech impairment is amenable primarily to surgery. It is pertinent to assess how well speech function is restored in individuals with cleft after surgical repairs. Findings of such assessments may inform on the factors affecting the impact of surgical intervention, and what additional interventions may be required and may form the baseline for further investigations into the speech characteristics of adults who have had delayed palatal repairs. No African report was found assessing speech outcomes in patients who had palatal repairs after the age of 18 years. This study is to assess the impact of speech therapy on adults who had their palates repaired at or after the age of 18 years. A retrospective review of "Smile Train" speech data was done. The speech data were videos of syllable and sentence screeners. The samples were individually assessed by 3 cleft speech therapy interventionists based on a predetermined set of parameters. These parameters were scored such that the higher the core, the poorer the outcome. The scores did not show statistically significant differences between the pre and post-speech therapy scores.