Findings of quality of life in children with stuttering
Murat Doğan1, Nazan Nemli2, Ali Bayram1, Altan Kaya1, Mehmet Yaşar1
1Kayseri Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi Kulak Burun Boğaz Hastalıkları Kliniği, Kayseri, Türkiye
2Kayseri Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi Odyoloji Bölümü, Kayseri, Türkiye
Keywords: Children, quality of life, stuttering.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the relationship between the severity of stuttering in children and their quality of life.
METHODS: Between January 2015 and November 2015, two groups consisting of 28 stutterers (26 male, 2 female; mean age 10.03 years) who were admitted to our clinic and 28 normal-speaking children (22 male, 6 female; mean age 9.96 years) were evaluated and compared by using Stuttering Severity Instrument 3 (SSI-3) for severity of stuttering and Quality of Life for Children Scale 4 (QLCS 4) for the quality of life. The relation between the severity of stuttering and the QLCS scores was examined.
RESULTS: The quality of life scores of stutterer group were found to be lower than those of normal-speaking group in all sub-scales and in total score. Almost all of the differences were statistically significant. But no relation was observed between the severity of stuttering and the QLCS scores.
CONCLUSION: Quality of life evaluations may be preferred as a useful method to follow-up the stuttering. Assessing the relation between the success of therapy and the changes in scores of normal-speaking and stuttering groups in course of time is recommended.