title: Aerodynamic and acoustic assessment in children following airway reconstruction: an assessment of feasibility.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility of conducting aerodynamic and acoustic assessment in children following airway reconstruction. Underlying etiologies, co-morbidities and age related factors can present challenges for meaningful instrumental data collection in this population.
  
  
  METHODS
  A chart review of 100 children who were seen for a complete voice evaluation at the Center for Pediatric Voice Disorders at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center was conducted. Children who completed full or partial aerodynamic and acoustic protocols were identified. Data regarding the ability to participate in the assessment was tabulated, and vowel samples taken from the acoustic data were subjected to signal type classifications (e.g., Type I, II, III).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifty-three children met the inclusion/exclusion criteria of the chart review. Of those children, 58% (n=31/53) were able to complete the full acoustic and aerodynamic protocols without any modification. In regards to the aerodynamic protocol alone, 64% (n=34/53) could complete protocol. In regards to the acoustic protocol alone, 75% (n=40/53) could complete the entire acoustic protocol without any modification. There were 32% (n=17) who provided a Type I acoustic signal which was appropriate for measurement of F(0). There was a significant correlation between age and ability to complete the protocol for both the aerodynamic (p=.007) and acoustic (p=.004) protocols.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrated that a majority of children were capable of completing aerodynamic and acoustic protocols. A significant proportion of children in this study had severe dysphonia, precluding the ability to extract fundamental frequency. Although aerodynamic and acoustic measures are feasible for many patients in this population, the severity of dysphonias observed in these patients causes the use of these measures to be limited in some cases for documenting behavioral and surgical outcomes measures.
authors.affiliation: Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Oxford, OH 45056, USA. bakerse1@muohio.edu
authors.forename: Susan Baker
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Brehm
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Weinrich
authors.forename: Meghan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zieser
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kelchner
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Middendorf
authors.forename: Ravi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Elluru
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Alarcon
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D003071:Cognition; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007830:Larynx / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010699:Phonation; D012123:Pulmonary Ventilation; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014832:Voice Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D014834:Voice Training