Abstract
Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) causes inconstant oromotor production. We investigated the clinical efficacy of repeated urimal test of articulation and phonation (U-TAP) in CAS patients. Twenty-eight children were recruited: 19 with CAS and 9 with functional articulation disorder (FAD). Four age-matched typically developing children were also recruited. U-TAP was performed twice repeatedly, and the error rate of consonant accuracy (CA) was measured. Preschool Receptive-Expressive Language Scale (PRES) was also performed. The mean U-TAP CA showed a significant difference between the three groups, with 42.04% for CAS, 77.92% for FAD, and 99.68% for the normal group (p < 0.05). The mean difference between the two U-TAP CAs was 10.01% for CAS, 0.82% for FAD, and no difference for the normal group, revealing a significant intergroup difference between CAS and FAD (p < 0.05). For the expressive and receptive PRES scores, CAS group showed significantly decreased results compared to FAD and normal group. Only in the CAS group, expressive PRES showed significant decrease rather than receptive PRES score. The CAS group showed a significant difference in the two U-TAP CA compared to the FAD and normal groups. This result implies that repeated U-TAP can be useful for supportive diagnostic tool for CAS by detecting poor reliability of phonation.
Highlights
We aimed to evaluate the difference in urimal test of articulation and phonation (U-TAP) consonant accuracy (CA) by performing U-TAP twice repeatedly in age-matched patients with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), functional articulation disorder (FAD), and normal groups, and to identify the possibility of U-TAP as a supportive diagnostic tool for CAS patients
The mean percentage of U-TAP CA showed a significant difference between the groups, with 42.04% for CAS, 77.92% for FAD, and 99.68% for the normal group (p < 0.05) (Table 2)
We evaluated the difference in CA using repetitive U-TAPs and showed that CAS patients had a significant difference compared to FAD and normal children
Summary
CAS patients have a higher risk of persistent reading and spelling disorder [5,6], which affects their learning abilities such as writing or reading [7,8]. These developmental problems in CAS patients can cause significant depression and anxiety, and they often have a low quality of life and lack self-satisfaction even in adulthood [9,10,11]. The most commonly used diagnostic method is the American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA) criteria Another commonly used diagnostic tool for CAS is Strand’s 10-point checklist [12]. These diagnostic methods are not evaluated quantitatively based on clinical characteristics; the clinical interpretation of the patient may differ depending on the examiners
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