Prediction of velopharyngeal competency

The question posed in this study was, are there measures which are predictive of the need for further palatal management? Articulation scores, lateral x-rays and clinical judgments of velopharyngeal competency were examined for 75 subjects in retrospect to determine their predictive value. Each of the measures resulted in at least 90% appropriate predictions. The combination of articulation score and lateral x-ray rating appeared to be the best predictor for this particular sample in that subsequent treatment was correctly predicted for 96% of the subjects. We view this study as a preliminary attempt in the prediction of further management and in future studies will consider age at the time of prediction and other possible predictor variables.