Purpose The purpose of this study is to document disfluency behaviors expressed by 4- and 5-year-old children who stutter and to identify whether stuttering characteristics at this age are predictive of later stuttering recovery or persistence. Method We analyzed spontaneous speech samples from 47 children diagnosed with developmental stuttering when they were 4–5 years old. Based on their eventual diagnosis made the final year of participation in the longitudinal study when the children were 6–9 years old, the children were divided into two groups: children who eventually recovered from stuttering ( n = 29) and children who were persisting ( n = 18). We calculated a composite weighted stuttering-like disfluency (SLD) index of overall severity that considers the frequency, type, and number of repetition units of SLDs. The frequency and type of typical disfluencies were also examined. Results Higher weighted SLD scores at ages 4–5 years were associated with a higher probability of persistent stuttering. The weighted SLD also significantly discriminated between children who would eventually be diagnosed as persisting or recovered from stuttering. The frequency and type of typical disfluency did not distinguish the two groups of children; however, children who were persisting had significantly higher frequencies of part-word repetitions and dysrhythmic phonations (i.e., blocks, prolongations, and broken words) and maximum number of part-word repetitions compared to children who eventually recovered from stuttering. Conclusions Previous findings in younger, 2- to 3-year-old children who stutter did not suggest a relationship between the severity and type of children's SLDs and their eventual stuttering outcome. Yet, by the age of 4–5 years, we found that the weighted SLD, a clinically applicable tool, may be used to help identify children at greater risk for stuttering persistence. We propose that the weighted SLD be considered, along with other predictive factors, when assessing risk of stuttering persistence in 4- and 5-year-old children who are stuttering.

中文翻译：

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4、5岁口吃儿童的不流利特征及其与口吃持续和恢复的关系

目的本研究的目的是记录 4 岁和 5 岁口吃儿童表现出的不流利行为，并确定该年龄段的口吃特征是否可以预测日后口吃的恢复或持续。 方法我们分析了 47 名 4-5 岁时被诊断患有发育性口吃的儿童的自发言语样本。根据他们在参与纵向研究的最后一年（当孩子们 6 至 9 岁时）做出的最终诊断，孩子们被分为两组：最终从口吃中恢复的孩子（n= 29) 和坚持不懈的孩子们 (n= 18）。我们计算了总体严重程度的综合加权类口吃不流利 (SLD) 指数，该指数考虑了 SLD 的频率、类型和重复单元的数量。还检查了典型不流畅的频率和类型。 结果4-5 岁时，较高的 SLD 加权分数与持续性口吃的可能性较高相关。加权 SLD 还显着区分了最终被诊断为持续口吃或已从口吃中恢复的儿童。典型不流利的频率和类型并不能区分两组儿童；然而，与最终从口吃中恢复过来的儿童相比，坚持不懈的儿童的部分单词重复和节奏失调的发声频率（即单词阻塞、延长和断词）以及部分单词重复的最大次数明显更高。 结论先前对 2 至 3 岁口吃儿童的研究结果并未表明儿童 SLD 的严重程度和类型与其最终口吃结果之间存在关系。然而，到了 4-5 岁时，我们发现加权 SLD（一种临床适用的工具）可用于帮助识别持续口吃风险较高的儿童。我们建议在评估 4 岁和 5 岁口吃儿童持续口吃的风险时，应考虑加权 SLD 以及其他预测因素。