Electroglottography in the pediatric population

Objective: To establish normative electroglottography (EGG) data in the ped iatric population. Design: Clinical study with EGG data gathered on children with normal voice s. Setting: Major children's hospital and specialty eye and ear hospital. Patients: A total of 164 children, 79 girls and 85 boys, aged 3 to 16 years . Methods: Children with normal voices, determined through subjective evaluat ion and a voice use history questionnaire, underwent EGG recording. The EGG data were analyzed with commercially available software for fundamental fr equency, jitter, open quotient, closing quotient, and opening quotient. Results: Normative EGG data were established for children aged 3 to 16 year s. Jitter, open quotient, closing quotient, and opening quotient were all f ound to have no significant dependence on age. Conclusions: Children as young as 3 years can easily tolerate EGG, making i t possible to establish this initial set of normative pediatric EGG data. T hese preliminary results suggest that EGG may have potential to assist clin icians with noninvasive documentation of vocal function in the pediatric po pulation. This maybe particularly important for tracking treatment-related changes in the vocal function of children who are difficult to examine endo scopically.