Performance of normal six- and seven-year-old males on oral manometer tasks

An assessment was made of oral manometric performance of normal speaking six- and seven-year-old boys. Readings of maximum, sustained, positive and negative pressure with bleed and nostrils occluded and open were obtained from each of forty subjects. It was found that the majority of normal speaking six- and seven-year-old boys had considerable difficulty generating and maintaining stable, maximal positive and negative pressure upon repeated trials of each of four manometric tasks. The findings of this project support the general hypothesis that oral manometric ratio data may be of questionable diagnostic value in predicting velopharyngeal adequacy for speech, particularly if ratio data must be interpreted dichotomously. The observations made were interpreted to support the view that there may be substantial differences even within the normal population in the ability to perform manometric tasks. The present results suggest that operational procedures commonly used during manometric testing merit rigorous scrutiny, re-examination and analysis.