Nasalance Score Variation in Normal Adult Japanese Speakers of Mid-West Japanese Dialect

OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to examine nasalance score variation for normal adult Japanese speakers of Mid-West dialect and the gender difference in average mean nasalance score. DESIGN: Nasalance scores were obtained using a nasometer model 6200. The sample stimulus "Kitsutsuki passage," constructed of four sentences containing no Japanese nasal sounds, was used three times by each subject. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred normal adult speakers (50 women and 50 men) of Japanese served as subjects. The subjects ranged in age from 19 to 35 years of age (24.0 +/- 3.2). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: A mean nasalance score as well as an overall average nasalance value across speakers was calculated for each subject. The average mean nasalance scores between men and women were compared. RESULTS: The average mean nasalance score for the normal Japanese speakers was 9.1% (+/- 3.9). There was no statistically significant sex difference (p < .01). Average mean scores of 9.8% (+/- 3.5) and 8.3% (+/- 4.0) were obtained for the female and male speakers, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results provide important information concerning criteria to evaluate hypernasal speech due to velopharyngeal inadequacy of Japanese speakers with cleft palate using the nasometer.