The impact of stuttering on quality of life of children and adolescents

Abstract

Background: understanding the experience of people who stutter, both in and out treatment, will lead to improved outcomes. Aim: to investigate how stuttering affects the quality of life of children and adolescents who stutter. Method: the Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering - School-Age (OASES-S) was used to assess the impact of stuttering and the Fluency Profile Protocol was used to stuttering severity. Results: these age groups do experience moderate negative impact as measured by the OASES-S. The results showed a tendency toward a positive correlation between severity and the impact of stuttering on quality of life. Conclusion: a better understanding of the impact of stuttering in these age groups provides a needed guide for the development of stuttering treatments and treatment outcomes research.