DYSPHONIA SEVERITY INDEX IN CHILDREN WITH VELOPHARYNGEAL DYSFUNCTION: A PRE-POST OPERATIVE COMPARISON.

Background & Objective: Voice is an important tool for communication through which we express our thoughts in form or sounds produced by movement of vocal folds. The voice quality is affected in children with cleft lip and palate due to velopharyngeal dysfunction (VPD) which is associated with abnormalities of velum leading to hyper adduction of vocal folds. Dysphonia Severity Index (DSI) is an objective multiparametric approach to evaluate voice quality. The present study aimed to compare the Dysphonia severity index (DSI) in children with velopharyngeal dysfunction before and after velopharyngeal surgery. Method: Twelve children (6 males and 6 females) with Velopharyngeal dysfuction in the age range of 7-12 yrs were considered for the present study. Individuals diagnosed to have velopharyngeal dysfunction by craniofacial team using cineradiography were considered for the study. Maximum phonation time (MPT), frequency and intensity, jitter measurements were made using Lingwaves voice clinic suite pro software Version 2.5 (Wevosys, Germany). Results and conclusion: There was significant difference between children with velopharyngeal dysfunction and age matched typically developing children on Dysphonia Severity Index values. There was a significant difference for I-low (p=0.03) and Dysphonia Severity Index (p=0.01) for pre and post-operative conditions. There was significant difference between gender on F o high and females (3.11) had better DSI values compared to males (2.37). These results of the present study suggest the need for gender specific voice therapy goals in rehabilitation of voice problems in children with VPD.  Key words: Dysphonia severity Index; Velopharyngeal Dysfunction; Voice Quality