Cleft lip and palate care in the United Kingdom - The Clinical Standards Advisory Group (CSAG) Study. Part 3: Speech outcomes

Objective: To summarize speech outcomes in children born with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) throughout the United Kingdom. Design: Prospective descriptive study on a cross-sectional sample of children. Patients/Participants: Data were collected for 238 5-year-olds (born between April 1, 1989, and March 31, 1991) and 218 12-year-olds (born between April 1, 1982, and March 31, 1984) with complete UCLP. Main Outcomes: Ratings of intelligibility, nasality, "speech cleft type characteristics" and speech therapy intervention. Conclusions: Nineteen percent of 5-year-olds and 4% of 12-year-olds were judged to be impossible to understand or just intelligible to strangers. Thirty-four percent of 5-year-olds and 17% of 12-year-olds had at least one serious error of consonant production. Eighteen percent of 5-year-olds and 12-year-olds had consistent hypernasality of mild, moderate, or severe degree. Approximately two-thirds of both age groups had undergone speech therapy.