Stuttering and Anxiety

Stuttering Severity and Anxiety in Egyptian School-age Children

Stuttering was defined as a common neurodevelopmental speech disorder characterized by repetitions, prolongations, and interruptions in the flow of speech. In other words, stuttering is a speech disorder characterized by involuntary disruptions to speech which impede the capacity to communicate effectively.

Physiological and emotional anxiety has been reported in persons who stutter. It has been reported that as high as 44% of clients seeking treatment for stuttering could be assigned a co-occurring social phobia or social anxiety diagnosis.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Anxiety Disorders; Stuttering, Childhood
• Intervention / Treatment: Diagnostic test: Stuttering severity instrument-3; Diagnostic test: Child Behavior Checklist for age 4-18

Detailed Description

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, social anxiety disorder is characterized by marked or intense fear of social or performance-based situations where scrutiny or evaluation by others may occur. Feared situations often include speaking in public, meeting new people, and talking with authority figures.

There are several reasons to expect that stuttering may be associated with social anxiety disorder. To begin with, stuttering is accompanied by numerous negative consequences across the lifespan which may increase vulnerability to social and psychological difficulties. These consequences are intensified during the school years when children become more involved in social and speaking situations. As a result, children and adolescents who stutter frequently experience peer victimization, social isolation and rejection, and they may also be less popular than their non-stuttering peers.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 100
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Egypt
  • Assiut, Egypt, 70001
    • Assiut University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 6 years to 16 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age ≥ 6 years to 16 years
• Gender: both sex is included in the study
• Intelligence quotient ≥ 85

Exclusion Criteria:

• Intelligence quotient < 85
• Age below 6 years or above 16 years
• Presence of other speech, language or physical disorders

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Stutter; Children who stuttering	Diagnostic test: Stuttering severity instrument-3; To measure of degree of stuttering in child; Diagnostic test: Child Behavior Checklist for age 4-18; To measure of percent of anxiety in child by ask parents about his or her behaviour
Active Comparator: Control; Children who non stuttering	Diagnostic test: Child Behavior Checklist for age 4-18; To measure of percent of anxiety in child by ask parents about his or her behaviour

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Stuttering severity index	Score of stuttering severity index a ranging from 1 to 40. It grades was divided into (very mild- mild- moderate- severe- very severe)	30 minutes

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Child Behavior Checklist for age 4-18	Questionnaire for detect presence of anxiety in children	30 minutes

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Assiut University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Iverach L, Rapee RM. Social anxiety disorder and stuttering: current status and future directions. J Fluency Disord. 2014 Jun;40:69-82. doi: 10.1016/j.jfludis.2013.08.003. Epub 2013 Sep 2.
• Smith KA, Iverach L, O'Brian S, Kefalianos E, Reilly S. Anxiety of children and adolescents who stutter: a review. J Fluency Disord. 2014 Jun;40:22-34. doi: 10.1016/j.jfludis.2014.01.003. Epub 2014 Feb 9.
• Blood GW, Blood IM, Maloney K, Meyer C, Qualls CD. Anxiety levels in adolescents who stutter. J Commun Disord. 2007 Nov-Dec;40(6):452-69. doi: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2006.10.005. Epub 2006 Nov 28.
• Alm PA. Stuttering in relation to anxiety, temperament, and personality: review and analysis with focus on causality. J Fluency Disord. 2014 Jun;40:5-21. doi: 10.1016/j.jfludis.2014.01.004. Epub 2014 Feb 8.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 17, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): January 1, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): January 1, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 17, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 18, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): May 19, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 2, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 1, 2019
• Last Verified: July 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Anxiety; Stuttering
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Nervous System Diseases; Neurologic Manifestations; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Language Disorders; Communication Disorders; Speech Disorders; Anxiety Disorders; Stuttering
• Other Study ID Numbers: SSI

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No