Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy in the treatment of hypernasality following traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Design: An A-B-A experimental research design. Assessments were conducted prior to commencement of the program, midway, immediately posttreatment, and 1 month after completion of the CPAP therapy program.
Participants: Three adults with dysarthria and moderate to severe hypernasality subsequent to TBI.
Outcome Measures: Perceptual evaluation using the Frenchay Dysarthria Assessment, the Assessment of Intelligibility of Dysarthric Speech, and a speech sample analysis, and instrumental evaluation using the Nasometer.
Results: Between assessment periods, varying degrees of improvement in hypernasality and sentence intelligibility were noted. At the 1-month post-CPAP assessment, all 3 participants demonstrated reduced nasalance values, and 2 exhibited increased sentence intelligibility.
Conclusions: CPAP may be a valuable treatment of impaired velopharyngeal function in the TBI population.