Year: 2023 | Month: November | Volume: 10 | Issue: 11 | Pages: 427-435
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijrr.20231150
An Examination of Improvement in Swallowing and Speech Production on the Quality of Life Among Children with Cerebral Palsy in Mombasa County, Kenya
Michelle Akinyi Alwala1, Dr. Mathew Kinyua Karia2, Dr. Joyce Ogogo3
1Master’s Student Department of Early Childhood and Special Needs Education
2,3Lecturer Department of Early Childhood and Special Needs Education, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya
Corresponding Author: Dr. Mathew Kinyua Karia
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this research was to examine if an improvement in swallowing and speech production can increase the quality of life among children with Cerebral Palsy (CP). Dynamic Systems Theory by Smith and Thelen (1995) was adopted. Case study design was adopted for the study which allowed a researcher to look into a single subject in depth. Piloting was done at the Association for the Physically Disabled of Kenya (APDK), Mombasa County. Purposive sampling was employed to sample children between 3-8 years of age with Cerebral Palsy. Modified speech assessment tools and a list of the evidence-based swallowing exercises were used to collect data. Data analysis was carried out using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS, version 24.0) and descriptive statistics of frequencies and percentages were used to summarize the demographic information. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) for the pre-treatment and post treatment engaging swallowing exercises was computed at .05 alpha level. Tables and graphs were used to present the data. A p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant if there were differences in the mean ranks of the responses. Findings revealed that before treatment through swallowing exercises, an average of one child with CP could communicate through speech and was able to feed variety of food without problems. However, after the administration of swallowing exercise during the eighth week, an average of children with CP across all the groups were able to communicate through speech and feed a variety of food without help The use of tongue extension, tongue retraction , tongue tip up, elevating tongue towards palate, opening of the jaw, circular movement of the jaw and lip press on tongue depressor had the highest mean rank implying that they had better effects on speech and vocal quality among children with CP under the study. The study concludes that apart from enhancing speech production, swallowing exercises positively impacted on quality of life among children with CP. The study recommends the government should create awareness regarding the need to promote speech therapy courses and medical education to increase the number of available speech therapists.
Keywords: improvement in swallowing exercise; speech production; quality of life; children with Cerebral Palsy
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