Auditory-perceptual training for the assessment of hypernasality in cleft palate speakers: an integrative literature review

ABSTRACT Purpose: to describe the auditory-perceptual training for the assessment of hypernasality in individuals with cleft lip and palate. Methods: an integrative literature review in the databases Virtual Health Library, SciELO, and PubMed, aimed to answer the following guiding question: 1) What are the characteristics of auditory-perceptual training to assess hypernasality in individuals with cleft lip and palate? Articles in Portuguese and English, available in full access, without the restriction of the publication date, which presented programs of training for speech hypernasality, unprecedented, adapted, or replicated, were included. The pursuit of descriptors, selection, extraction, and synthesis of data was performed by three independent evaluators. Literature Review: 10 articles were included in this study, based on established criteria. Five articles investigated the effectiveness of training on speech analysis by listeners, regardless of experience level. Another five articles pertained to training when validating speech assessment protocols. Consensus analyses and reference samples were the most used training reported. Perceptual rating of phrases, using the equal appearance scale and in person training, was the most reported one. Conclusions: the auditory-perceptual training of listeners to identify hypernasality showed variability in the proposed strategies, particularly when proposed for non-experienced listeners. The difficulty in maintaining acquired skills in the long term is pointed out.