The impact of vocal intensity and pitch modulation on nasalance scores: a pilot study.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of pitch and intensity modulation on nasalance scores.

METHODS

A single-group pretest-posttest design was used in which subjects produced reading passages at different pitch and intensity levels. The Nasometer was used for the registration of nasalance scores in subjects with and without cleft palate.

RESULTS

An increase in intensity in the non-cleft group resulted in a small but significant decrease in nasalance. Lowering the pitch level resulted in a small but significant decrease in nasalance scores for both the non-cleft and cleft palate subjects.

CONCLUSIONS

The nasalance changes after vocal modulations during connected speech are reliable and not biased but the impact of these vocal changes on speech intelligibility and daily communication and the usefulness of these vocal modulations as part of a behavioral management program is not yet proven.