Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the early communication behaviors in infants with nonsyndromic isolated cleft palate (iCP) and Robin sequence (RS).
DESIGN: Group comparison using parent report.
PARTICIPANTS: There were 106 participants included in this study. Two groups were selected from the UK Cleft Collective resource. Parents had completed the Language ENvironment Analysis Developmental Snapshot questionnaire when their child turned 13 months. There were 78 participants in the iCP group and 28 in the RS group.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Total number of communication behaviors reported on the questionnaire. Subdomains for expressive and receptive language and social communication behaviors were also analyzed.
RESULTS: There were no statistically significant group differences. Parents of infants with RS reported fewer later communication behaviors compared to the iCP group. Infants in both groups had fewer communication behaviors compared to the normative sample. Across the whole sample, post hoc analysis revealed a significant correlation between severity of the cleft and social communication behaviors and expressive but not receptive language. Infants with a cleft of the hard and soft palate were more likely to be in the RS group (odds ratio: 7.04 [95% CI: 1.55-32.04]; P = .01).
CONCLUSIONS: Both groups reported similar levels of early communication. Some divergence of more complex language skills was seen, although there were no significant group differences. A relationship with the diagnosis of a cleft of the hard or soft palate with expressive language behaviors was found. Further study into the impact of cleft severity on early speech development and the relationship with later language skills is needed along with longitudinal follow-up of this population.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 984-994 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal |
| Volume | 59 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| Early online date | 14 Jul 2021 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Aug 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was completed in partial fulfilment of a clinical doctoral fellowship funded by National Institute of Health Research (HEE/NIHR) in the United Kingdom. Stephanie van Eeden is funded by a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowship for this research project (ICA-CDRF-2017-03-002). In addition, this publication involves data derived from independent research funded by The Scar Free Foundation (REC approval 13/SW/0064).
Funding Information:
We are grateful to the families who participated in the study, the UK NHS cleft teams, and The Cleft Collective team, who helped facilitate the study. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was completed in partial fulfilment of a clinical doctoral fellowship funded by National Institute of Health Research (HEE/NIHR) in the United Kingdom. Stephanie van Eeden is funded by a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowship for this research project (ICA-CDRF-2017-03-002). In addition, this publication involves data derived from independent research funded by The Scar Free Foundation (REC approval 13/SW/0064).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association.
Keywords
- Robin Sequence
- Cleft palate
- Communication
- Language
- Speech
- Infant
- Cleft Collective