Abstract:

Objective　To analyze the formant frequency of vowels in the sequence therapy of patient with cleft palate. Methods　The formant frequency of vowels [a],[e],[i],[u] of normal children and postoperative patients with and without speech therapy was measured and analyzed by VS-99.Results　①The mean value of F1,F2,F3 of [a] did not show significant difference among the three groups (P>0·05).②The difference of mean value of [e] was significant between control group and pre-speech-therapy group, and between pre-speech-therapy and post-speech-therapy group (P<0·05), but no significant differ- ence was found between post-speech-therapy and control group(P>0·05). The mean value of the formant in post-speech-therapy was higher than that of pre-speech-therapy.③The difference of mean value of [i] was significant between pre-speech-therapy and post-speech-therapy (P<0·05), the mean value of F2,F3 in post-speech-therapy group decreased significantly compared with control (P<0·05).④The difference of mean value of [u] showed significance between pre-speech-therapy and post-speech-ther- apy (P<0·05), while the differences among other groups were insignificant (P>0·05).Conclusion　Surgical repair of cleft palate cannot make all patients obtain perfect Velopharyngeal competence (VPC), while speech therapy can improve patient’s pronunciation. Speech spectrum analysis can judge the effect of cleft palate therapy objectively.

Key words: cleft palate, speech therapy, spectrum, vowel, formant