Correlation of the Chinese velopharyngeal insufficiency‐related quality of life instrument and speech in subjects with cleft palate

Abstract

Objective: Assessment of the hypothesized correlation between the Chinese Velopharyngeal Insufficiency (VPI) Effects on Life Outcomes (VELO) instrument and measured speech parameters. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Oral Clefts Center of West China Hospital of Stomatology between January 2019 and December 2019. Speech parameters including speech intelligibility deficit, VPI severity, VP gap, and need for speech therapy were evaluated by speech-language pathologists. All patients and their parents completed the VELO instrument. The correlation between aforementioned speech parameters and VELO scores was examined utilizing Spearman correlation coefficients. The reliability of VELO test-retest and parent proxy assessment was estimated utilizing intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). A receiver operating characteristic curve was used to calculate the cutoff VELO score. Results: One hundred and forty patients with their parents were enrolled. The mean age was 12.58 ± 3.72 years. Both parent and youth VELO total and domain scores recorded moderate to strong correlations with all speech parameters (r > À.40, P < .001) except the swallowing domain. Most VELO domain items have shown significant correlations with at least one speech parameter. Moreover, the scales of all speech parameters showed different VELO scores (P < .001). The ICC reported testretest correlation >.73 in all domains, and parent proxy correlation >.63 in most domains except the emotional and perception domains. The cutoff VELO score was 79.04 in parent version and 85.77 in youth version. Conclusions:The correlations between VELO scores and measured speech parameters have provided evidence for test-retest and parent proxy reliability and criterion

Velopharyngeal Inadequacy-Related Quality of Life Assessment: The Instrument Development and Application Review

“…According to the development procedure, these instruments could be divided into nine types of families ( Figure 2 ). Among these instruments, only VPIQOL and VELO were specifically designed for patients with velopharyngeal inadequacy ( 17 – 20 ).…”

“…This might be due to its simplicity. The VELO instrument has the dominant place in the recent 3 years ( 20 , 51 – 61 ), followed by the type 8 family (VHI, pVHI, and VHI-9i) ( 57 , 61 – 64 ). The VELO instrument is specially designed for patients with velopharyngeal insufficiency who accounted for the majority of patients with velopharyngeal inadequacy, thereby enabling its widespread.…”

The Sommerlad–Furlow Modified Palatoplasty Technique: Postoperative Complications and Implicating Factors

“…The total VELO score ranges between 0 and 100, with 100 being the best possible VPI‐related Quality‐of‐Life. In this context, patients were estimated to have adequate VPI‐related QOL if the total VELO score is ≥79.04 or inadequate VPI‐related QOL if the score is ˂79.04 24 …”

“…The records were available for 64 patients. These records were completed by patients' parents using a self-administered questionnaire survey (validated Chinese VELO instrument 23,24 ) under the guidance of trained investigators. The response format is a five-point Likert-type scale ranging from never (0) to almost always (4).…”

Obturator Manufacturing for Oronasal Fistula after Cleft Palate Repair: A Review from Handicraft to the Application of Digital Techniques

“…The primary purpose of the ONF obturator is to obstruct abnormal communication between the oral and nasal cavities. However, in patients with cleft palate, velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) can also be the cause of speech problems and affect their quality of life [ 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 ]. Both ONF and VPI can contribute to the speech dysfunction of the patient [ 49 , 50 , 51 ], so both aspects should be considered during the manufacture of the obturator.…”