Classification of speech and language profiles in 4-year-old children with cerebral palsy: a prospective preliminary study.
OBJECTIVE
In this study, the authors proposed and tested a preliminary speech and language classification system for children with cerebral palsy.


METHODS
Speech and language assessment data were collected in a laboratory setting from 34 children with cerebral palsy (CP; 18 male, 16 female) with a mean age of 54 months (SD = 1.8). Measures of interest were vowel area, speech rate, language comprehension scores, and speech intelligibility ratings.


RESULTS
Canonical discriminant function analysis showed that 3 functions accounted for 100% of the variance among profile groups, with speech variables accounting for 93% of the variance. Classification agreement varied from 74% to 97% based on 4 different classification paradigms.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study provide preliminary support for the classification of speech and language abilities of children with CP into 4 initial profile groups. Further research is necessary to validate the full classification system.
Hustad
Katherine C
KC
Department of Communicative Disorders, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1500 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI 53706, USA. kchustad@wisc.edu
Gorton
Kristin
K
Lee
Jimin
J
D000465:Algorithms; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004401:Dysarthria / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male; D010700:Phonetics; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013060:Speech; D013065:Speech Intelligibility; D013067:Speech Perception; D013068:Speech Production Measurement