HONC measures in 4- to 6-year-old children

Objective: To collect normative data using Horii's Oral Nasal Coupling Index (HONC) from 4- to 6-year-old children without cleft palate to be used in the evaluation of young children with cleft palate. In addition, to determine whether HONC values in children are similar to those of adults and thus show that the HONC ratio successfully normalizes nasal accelerometric signals across age, gender, and vocal intensity. Design: Measurement of accelerometric and acoustic signals from novel nasal and nonnasal utterances, which the children repeated after the experimenter. Measurements also included four sustained [m] productions, which were used to calibrate correction factors used to equate nasal and oral signals during a sustained [m] production. Setting: Laboratory at a state university. Participants: Ten girls and 10 boys, aged 4 to 6 years, with normal speech, language, and hearing. Results: Differences of 13 dB (HONC) were found to separate nasal from nonnasal sentences. No significant difference in HONC score was found across gender for nasal/nonnasal sentences and [m] productions. The correction factors generated during [m] calibration procedures did not differ between girls and boys. Conclusions: Horii Oral Nasal Coupling Index differences between nasal and nonnasal utterances appear to be valid and reliable measures in both children and adults for detection of disorders of nasal resonance.