Measurement of young children's total actual speaking time by a newly devised accumulator as an assessment of otitis media with effusion.
Aspiration of effusion and insertion of ventilating tubes in children with persistent effusion are effective ways of treating otitis media with effusion. In consequence, an increase in actual speaking time rendered by improving the hearing impairment must surely enrich the lives of children afflicted with this disease. To assess the increase in speaking time following aspiration of effusion and insertion of ventilating tubes, we devised a speech accumulator (RYU et al., 1983) which records the vibration time of the vocal cords by a small contact microphone attached to the neck. Total actual speaking time was measured with this device in children with effusion, and preoperative and postoperative speaking times were compared. Furthermore, an increase in actual speaking time invariably coincided with gain of hearing by middle ear ventilation. Children in whom insertion of the tube and adenoidectomy and/or tonsillectomy were performed were recruited for the study. The placebo group for surgery was made up of children selected at random who underwent adenoidectomy and/or tonsillectomy and suffered no hearing impairment, hence, there was no insertion of the tube. There was no significant difference between preoperative and postoperative total speaking times in patients of the placebo group.
D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008876:Middle Ear Ventilation; D010034:Otitis Media with Effusion / Q000601:surgery*; D013060:Speech; D013066:Speech-Language Pathology / Q000295:instrumentation; D013997:Time Factors