Effect of Age and Gender on Nasalance Across the Lifespan: A Systematic Review.

The Nasometer® is a widely used clinical and research tool with diagnosis and outcome measurement utility. The objective of this study was to systematically examine the effect of age and gender on nasalance across the lifespan.A systematic review was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA 2020).University.Children, adolescents, adults, and older adults.Covidence Better Systematic Review Management; Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network Methodology (SIGN) Checklist 3 for risk of bias; Levels of evidence, Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine Levels of Evidence hierarchy; and effect size calculations using G*Power 3.Nasalance (%) from the Nasometer™.50 studies (from N = 1884) were included in the review. All were Level 3 (non-randomized controlled cohort) observational-analytic type studies. Only 10 (20%) of studies met a High Quality (low risk of bias) rating. Effect sizes were moderate for adults versus children (d = 0.717) and adults versus adolescents (d = 0.521) for oral text/passage. Gender differences were clinically significant for adolescent males and females with a moderate effect size (d = 0.545) for oronasal text/passage.The systematic review provides objective and defined evidence as to the effects of age and gender on nasalance. Separate normative databases are implicated for specific age subgroups across the lifespan and for gender, particularly in adolescence. Review findings are applicable to other clinical groups where acquisition and/or progression occurs in adulthood/older adulthood.

Cross-Linguistic Nasalance Comparisons: A Review of Speech Sample Sets and Preliminary Consideration of Effect of Lexical Tone.

INTRODUCTION: Nasalance is an acoustic representation of perceived nasality with proven clinical and research utility. Its validity is contingent on appropriate speech sample sets and distinct normative databases based on known impact factors such as language and phonetic environment, but little is known about the potential effects of lexical tone on nasalance. Its use in international cross-linguistic studies necessitates definition and added considerations of speech sampling protocol. METHODS: Part I. A methodological review was undertaken using PRISMA (2020), the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) Methodology Checklist for evaluating risk of bias, and calculation of effect sizes and/or visual displays using tables showing grouping of similar data for synthesis of findings. Part II. A pilot study explored the effect of lexical tone on nasalance in Cantonese, a lexical tone language. RESULTS: Part I. 17 studies met the inclusion criteria. In addressing possible confounders and minimizing risk of bias, 13 studies were assigned an overall quality rating of (+) acceptable and the remaining 4, a high rating (++). For the 9-word string, there was a (non-clinical) difference of 3-5% between Swedish and Brazilian-Portuguese, and a moderate effect size for age (d=0.49); for the consonant-vowel syllables set (CV set), clinical differences across languages were identified for adults, and between 5-10% for children and adolescents. Part II. The pilot study showed a significant effect of lexical tone on nasalance where nasalance for the high-level tone 1 was significantly higher than that for high-rising tone 2, low-rising tone 5, and low-falling tone 4. DISCUSSION: There is a need for further evidence from other languages, including tonal languages, to better define the evidence and speech methodology of international cross-linguistic nasalance studies.

Applying computer-based language test to young children.

INTRODUCTION: This study aims at exploring the feasibility of applying a computer-based language test to young children aged 2-4 years. METHODS: Thirty-two Cantonese-speaking children, aged 2-4 years, were recruited from local kindergartens. All participants underwent assessment using both the computer-based and paper-pencil versions of the Macau Cantonese Language Screening Scale for Preschool Children, following a crossover study design. A short break of 15-30 minutes was provided between the two assessments. The data were analysed at three levels: the overall test, subcategory, and individual item levels. At the overall test and subcategory levels, data were analysed using the paired samples t-test and ICC. At the item level, the percentage of agreement and Cohen's kappa value were selected to assess the agreement of the two test formats. RESULTS: Excellent agreement was found for the overall test level, and good agreement was observed for four of the five subcategories. At the individual item level, 28 of the 35 items showed more than 80% agreement, and 16 items showed substantial to almost perfect agreement. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the two test formats give similar total scores and subcategory scores for children aged 2-4. For children older than 2 years, 6 months, the agreement for matching items is as high as 83.68% (1318/1575). The computer-based test is thus highly recommended for this group of children. For children younger than 2 years, 6 months, a modified computer-based test is suggested to accommodate their needs.