Factors influencing the efficacy and implementation of teletherapy for stuttering.

Abstract

Purpose: Telepractice is a promising alternative to treat children who stutter. This study aimed to investigate factors influencing telepractice for treating stuttering in a group of school-aged children. Methods: This study involved 20 children aged 7 to 9 years diagnosed with moderate to severe stuttering using the Stuttering Severity Instrument (SSI) - Arabic version. The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales (SB-5), Fifth Edition was applied. Speech teletherapy via Zoom application was employed for 9 months by the same speech pathologists. After treatment, SSI was measured to check the improvement and to correlate the results to age, sex, and IQ subtests. Results: The SSI scores decreased significantly after treatment (p < 0.001) with a mean percentage of change of 57.4 ± 27.1% (21.7%-100%). Stuttering severity decreased significantly after teletherapy (p < 0.001); all children with moderate stuttering (n = 12) were converted to slight severity. Three out of eight of those with severe stuttering (37.5%), had slight severity after the end of treatment. The children's attendance and attention during treatment sessions were excellent sessions. The scores on all components of the SB scales and the full-scale IQ were average scores in all children. The treatment outcome was not affected by the children's age, sex, or IQ. Conclusion: Teletherapy for 9 months is successful in reducing stuttering scores and severity in school-age children. The outcome of treatment was not affected by the child's age, sex, and IQ.