Clinical trial NCT03160586: Stuttering and Anxiety
Official title: Stuttering Severity and Anxiety in Egyptian School-age Children
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Stuttering, Childhood
Anxiety Disorders
Keywords: Stuttering
Anxiety
Lead sponsor: Assiut University
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2017-05-19
Enrollment: 100
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 6
Maximum age (years): 16
Standard ages: CHILD
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: DIAGNOSTIC

Brief summary: 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.

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.

Eligibility criteria: 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

Primary outcomes:
measure: Stuttering severity index
timeFrame: 30 minutes
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Child Behavior Checklist for age 4-18
timeFrame: 30 minutes
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Assiut
country: Egypt
facility: Assiut University
Study officials:
References:
citation: 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.
citation: 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.
citation: 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.
citation: 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.