Treatment clinical trial - three types - for children with fluency disorders and stuttering.
Nathalia Dos Santos Fernandes de Ávila, Fabiola Juste, Julia Biancalana Costa and 1 others
PMID 34705998WHAT IT FOUND
Positive progress on stuttering measures was recorded in 12 of 19 Green Program children, 17 of 25 Yellow Program children, and 36 of 49 Red Program children.
The study did not report a control group, so the treatment effect is uncertain.
Key findings
01Positive progress was recorded in 12 of 19 Green Program children, 17 of 25 Yellow Program children, and 36 of 49 Red Program children.
02Across the 93 analysed children, mean stuttered syllables percentage was 6.2 before treatment and 3.1 after treatment.
03Mean SSI-3 total score was 18.5 before treatment and 11.8 after treatment, with a reported p<0.001.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The children were assigned to programs by stuttering risk, not randomised, so the groups differed before treatment. The study did not report an untreated group or alternative-treatment control group. Therapists knew which program was given, although evaluators were masked. The programs combined several components, such as family counselling, child speech work, and school advice, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated. The study did not assess long-term stuttering course, stuttering outside the clinic, or emotional and social outcomes. Progress relied on a controlled speech sample and a main stuttering variable.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the Red Program result as proof that direct intervention works better or that it caused the improvement. Children were assigned by stuttering risk, not randomised, and the study did not report an untreated or alternative-treatment control group. Each program also combined family and child components, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated.