The following manuscript has been accepted for publication.
Seifert, M., Davies, A., Harding, S., McLeod, S., & Wren, Y. (2020, in press December). Intelligibility in 3-year-olds with cleft lip and/or palate using the Intelligibility in Context Scale: Findings from the Cleft Collective Cohort Study. The Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal.
Here is the abstract:
Objective: To provide comparison data on the Intelligibility in Context Scale (ICS) for a sample of 3-year-old English-speaking children born with any cleft type.
Design: Questionnaire data from the Cleft Collective Cohort Study were used. Descriptive and inferential statistics were carried out to determine difference according to children’s cleft type and syndromic status.
Participants: 412 children born with cleft lip and/or palate whose mothers had completed the ICS when their child was 3-years-old.
Main Outcome Measure(s): Mothers’ rating of their children’s intelligibility using the ICS.
Results: The average ICS score for the total sample was 3.75 (sometimes-usually intelligible) (SD=0.76, 95% CIs=3.68-3.83) out of a possible score of 5 (always intelligible). Children’s speech was reported to be most intelligible to their mothers (M=4.33, SD=0.61, 95% CIs=4.27-4.39) and least intelligible to strangers (M=3.36, SD=1.00, 95% CIs=3.26-3.45). There was strong evidence (p < 0.001) for a difference in intelligibility between children with cleft lip only (n=104, M=4.13, SD=0.62, 95% CIs=4.01-4.25) and children with any form of cleft palate (n=308, M=3.63, SD=0.76, 95% CIs=3.52-3.71). Children born with cleft palate with or without cleft lip and an identified syndrome were rated as less intelligible (n=63, M=3.28, SD=0.85, 95% CIs=3.06-3.49) compared to children who did not have a syndrome (n=245, M=3.72, SD= 0.71, 95% CIs=3.63-3.81).
Conclusions: These results provide preliminary comparative data for clinical services using the outcome measures recommended by the International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement.
