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ABSTRACT:
Three documents are provided to help the speech-language pathologist (SLP) identify children with voice disorders and educate family members. The first is a quickly administered screening test that covers multiple aspects of voice, respiration, and resonance. It was tested on 3,000 children in kindergarten and first and fifth grades, and on 47 preschoolers. The second document is a checklist of functional indicators of voice disorders that could be given to parents, teachers, or other caregivers to increase their attention to potential causes of voice problems and to provide the SLP with information pertinent to identification. The final document is a brochure with basic information about voice disorders and the need for medical examination. It may be used to help the SLP educate parents, particularly about the need for laryngeal examination for children who have been identified as having a voice problem.
KEY WORDS: voice disorders, screening voice, voice assessment, pediatric voice disorders
Voice is the product of a combination of physiologic activities, including respiration, phonation, and resonance. A voice disorder is present when a person's quality, pitch, and loudness differ from those of a person's of similar age, gender, cultural background, and geographic location, or when an individual indicates that his or her voice is not sufficient to meet daily needs, even if it is not perceived as deviant by others (Colton & Casper, 1996; Stemple, Glaze, & Klaben, 2000).
The incidence of voice disorders in children is often estimated at between 6% and 9% (Boyle, 2000; Hirschberg et al., 1995). However, other sources identify ranges of 2% to 23% (Deal, McClain, & Sudderth, 1976; Silverman & Zimmer, 1975). In one study, 38% of elementary school-aged children were identified as having chronic hoarseness (Leeper, 1992). Unfortunately, it is estimated that the vast majority of children with voice disorders are never seen by a speech-language pathologist (SLP; Kahane & Mayo, 1989), and children with voice disorders only make up between 2% and 4% of an SLP's caseload (Davis & Harris, 1992).
Few studies have identified the type of laryngeal pathologies that are most common to children. Dobres, Lee, Stemple, Kretschmer, and Kummer (1990) described the occurrence of laryngeal pathologies and their distribution across age, gender, and race in a pediatric sample. Data were collected...