Osteopathic correction of somatic dysfunctions in preschool children with delayed speech development
Authors: Abramova E. V. , Aptekar I. A. 
Published: February 2020

Introduction.Speech disorders are currently observed in an average of 30 % of children of the fi rst grade of school. It means that objectively during the preschool period, one third of the entire population of children have speech function that does not reach the norm and requires additional correction by specialists. In recent years birth injury has been considered one of the possible reasons for the high frequency of speech disorders. As practice shows, the possibilities of drug therapy for children with speech disorders are very limited. That is why it is relevant to expand non-drug methods for the restoration of speech functions. The goal of research — to justify the use of osteopathic correction of somatic dysfunctions in order to improve sound pronunciation in preschool children.

Materials and methods.In the period from 2012 to 2018, a prospective controlled randomized study was performed on the basis of Tyumen Institute of Manual Medicine. The work is based on the results of examination and treatment of 98 preschool children with delayed speech development. 18 people were excluded from the study in accordance with exclusion criteria. Depending on the treatment method used, all patients were divided by simple randomization using the envelope method into two comparable groups (main and control) of 40 people. Patients of both groups underwent a complete speech therapy correction and training course, which included individual lessons. Patients of the main group underwent the same speech therapy, as well as the osteopathic treatment in accordance with the developed algorithm. All patients underwent osteopathic examination and a combined assessment of the severity of speech disorders before and after the treatment.

Results.The study showed that the presence of global, regional and local somatic dysfunctions was typical for children of preschool age with a delay in speech development. Somatic dysfunctions of head, neck and thoracic regions were most often observed. In the course of the treatment, patients of the main group showed a statistically significant decrease in the frequency of detection of somatic dysfunctions of head, neck, and thoracic regions, of local somatic dysfunctions of the cranial sutures and the thoracoabdominal diaphragm (p<0,05). In patients of the control group, there was no statistically significant decrease in the number of somatic dysfunctions. In children with impaired speech development who underwent complex therapy, which included osteopathic correction and individual lessons with a speech therapist, there was a significant decrease in the severity of speech disorders compared with patients of the control group (p<0,00001).

Conclusion.Osteopathic correction of somatic dysfunctions (with a certain sequence of techniques aimed to treat connective tissue disorders, including decompression, elimination of edema and hypoxia in children with delayed speech development), allows to achieve a statistically signifi cant improvement in children′s condition compared with standard treatment.