Oral Language in Children With Down Syndrome

Oral Language in Children With Down Syndrome: Lexical, Syntactic and Semantic Aspects

The objective of this research is to verify the language of children with Down syndrome concerning lexical, syntactic and semantic aspects using MLU. The hypothesis is that children with Down syndrome will present low performance, regarding not only the quantitative measures as MLU-m, MLU-w, GM-1 and GM-2, but also regarding the qualitative aspects of their production, when compared to children with typical development.

Study Overview

• Status: Unknown
• Conditions: Down Syndrome

Detailed Description

One of the alternatives to observe and assess language development and language disorders is to analyze spontaneous language samples, which allos the identification of qualitative and quantitative aspects. The analysis involves the MLU-morphemes, MLU-words and words classes. All words produced are analyzed, including interjections, adverbs and adjectives.Word classes with grammatical characteristics present lower averages, as prepositions and conjunctions. Reference parameters are the ones of the spoken language. The objective assessment with qualitative and quantitative data may help the speech and language pathologist/therapist to determine therapeutic guidelines to each patient.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 60

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Brazil
  • Sao Paulo, Brazil, 05360-160
    • University of Sao Paulo - School of Medicine - Department of Physiotherapy, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Occupational Therapy

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 3 years to 10 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

60 children with Down syndrome aged from 3 to 10 years

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• genetic diagnosis of Down syndrome
• good health conditions
• normal results on audiologic evaluation
• pediatric and ear, nose and throat periodic check ups.
• attend speech-language therapy at the Speech Language Pathology Laboratory in Syndromes and Sensorimotor Deficits (SLPL-SSD) of the School of Medicine of the University of São Paulo.

Exclusion Criteria:

• submission to long term hospitalizations due to heart diseases and major respiratory airway infections, that may interfere in the child's global development
• presence of visual or auditory important deficits

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
research group; 60 children aged from 3 to 10 years, both genders, observed in a symbolic play situation with their language therapists

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Sao Paulo
• Collaborators: Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
• Investigators: Study Chair: Suelly CO Limongi, PhD, University of Sao Paulo; Principal Investigator: Rosangela V Andrade, PhD, University of Sao Paulo; Principal Investigator: Fabiola C Flabiano, PhD student, University of Sao Paulo; Principal Investigator: Porto Eliza, Ms student, University of Sao Paulo; Principal Investigator: Angela MA Carvalho, Ms student, University of Sao Paulo

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Limongi SC, Oliveira Ede F, Ienne LM, Andrade RV, Carvalho AM. The use of nouns and verbs by children with Down syndrome in two different situations. Codas. 2013;25(3):262-7. doi: 10.1590/s2317-17822013000300012. English, Portuguese.
• Marques SF, Limongi SC. [Mean length utterance (MLU) as a measure of language development of children with Down syndrome]. J Soc Bras Fonoaudiol. 2011;23(2):152-7. doi: 10.1590/s2179-64912011000200012. Portuguese.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: August 1, 2007
• Primary Completion (Actual): April 1, 2009
• Study Completion (Anticipated): August 1, 2009

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 3, 2009
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 4, 2009
• First Posted (Estimate): August 6, 2009

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): August 6, 2009
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 4, 2009
• Last Verified: August 1, 2009

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Down syndrome; language development; MLU; language assessment
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Nervous System Diseases; Neurologic Manifestations; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Disease; Congenital Abnormalities; Genetic Diseases, Inborn; Intellectual Disability; Abnormalities, Multiple; Chromosome Disorders; Syndrome; Down Syndrome
• Other Study ID Numbers: 473492/2007-5; CNPq-473492/2007-5