Clinical Aspects of Children with Developmental Stuttering

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical characteristics of developmental stuttering. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 28 children diagnosed with developmental stuttering from January 2001 to December 2010 who had been admitted to the Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital. RESULTS: We observed a strong male predominance. The MF ratio was 131 in this study. And the onset age converged on 2-5 years (71.4%). Seven patients (25%) had a family history of language disorders. Among them, 5 cases (17.8%) was about to developmental stuttering. As for associated disorders, 5 patients (17.8%) had another language disorder as articulation disorder or developmental language delay; respectively 4 patients (14.2%) and 1 patient (3.6%). Three patients (10.7%) had psychologic disorder as ADHD or anxiety disorder; respectively 2 patients (7.1%) and 1 patient (3.6%). In addition, 2 patients (7.1%) had ankyloglossia including 1 case accompanying with articulation disorder. Another 2 patients (7.1%) had adenoid-hypertrophy also including 1 case accompanying with articulation disorder. The proportion of moderate-to-severe and severe cases was 63.6%. And we observed remarkable improvement of stuttering in 92.9% (13/14) patients during repetitive speech or text reading. CONCLUSION: Several distinctive characteristics of developmental stuttering were observed in this study. The value of this study is that it's the clinical report on developmental stuttering by pediatrician and we expect this study will contribute to the basis of forward investigation.