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Dysphonia in extremely preterm children: A longitudinal observation.
Victoria Reynolds1, Suzanne Meldrum1,2, Karen Simmer1,3
1a University of Western Australia, School of Paediatrics and Child Health , Crawley , Australia.
Dysphonia, or voice disorders, can persist in extremely preterm children despite some improvement. Individual voice quality varies, and further research is needed to understand these voice problems.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Otolaryngology
- Neonatology
- Speech-Language Pathology
Background:
- Dysphonia is a recognized complication of preterm birth.
- Childhood voice disorders often resolve spontaneously, but prognosis is unknown for extremely preterm infants with laryngeal pathology.
- Neonatal intubation can lead to structural laryngeal issues and supraglottic hyperfunction, impacting voice quality.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the incidence and severity of dysphonia in children born at < 25 weeks' gestation.
- To evaluate changes in voice quality over time in this population.
- To explore individual variability in voice disorder progression.
Main Methods:
- Pilot study involving 10 extremely preterm children (9.67-17.08 years) undergoing repeat voice assessment.
- Primary outcome: Consensus Auditory-Perceptual Evaluation of Voice (CAPE-V) severity scores.
- Secondary outcomes: Acoustic Voice Quality Index and Pediatric Voice Handicap Index scores.
Main Results:
- Perceptual dysphonia severity scores significantly decreased on repeat assessment.
- No significant changes observed in objective voice measures or quality of life scores.
- Significant individual variation in CAPE-V scores (-36 to +1); no participant achieved normal voice quality.
Conclusions:
- Group data analysis masked considerable individual variability in voice disorder progression.
- Dysphonia appears persistent in extremely preterm children, with unknown underlying mechanisms for individual variation.
- Further research is crucial for understanding voice disorder progression and informing treatment.
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