Randomised Control Trial of Three Treatments for Adolescent Stutterers

有效的沟通是日常生活中必不可少的，而口吃会损害这种功能。口吃的人可能会发现无法进行有效的交流，严重的人可能会几乎哑巴。临床上显著的焦虑在这种疾病中表现突出，几乎一半寻求治疗的人被诊断为社交恐惧症的合并症。青少年时期通常被认为是人生的艰难时期，在这个时期，言语毁容的潜在影响可能是毁灭性的。针对儿童和成人口吃的治疗方法已经进行了大量的研究和开发，这些年龄组的治疗方法被证明是有效的。然而，人们对如何治疗青少年口吃知之甚少，也没有多少研究和发展来找到适合这个年龄段的最佳治疗方法。目前的建议是对最近显示有希望作为该年龄组患者治疗方法的三种治疗方法进行随机对照试验。该试验将比较(1)一种涉及讲话时生物反馈肌肉活动的治疗，(2)一种涉及讲话时语音活动生物反馈的治疗，以及(3)一种标准治疗的变体，该治疗以一种新的讲话模式训练说话者。对照组不接受任何治疗。在受试者被随机分配到治疗组或对照组后，试验将持续12个月。研究人员将在临床和日常生活的各种情况下评估受试者的语言。主要结果测量将是音节口吃的百分比，次要测量将是治疗所需的时间和治疗后患者声音的自然程度。在试验结束时，对照组的受试者将接受最有效的治疗。

Effective communication is an essential of everyday life, and stuttering impairs this function. Those who stutter may find effective communication impossible, and severe cases may be rendered almost mute. Clinically significant anxiety figures prominently in the disorder with almost half of those seeking treatment warranting a comorbid diagnosis of social phobia. The adolescent years are generally regarded as a difficult time of life, at which time the potential effects of disfigured speech can be devastating. There has been much research and development of treatments for children and adults who stutter, proven effective treatments are available for those age groups. However, little is known about how to treat adolescents who stutter, and there has been little research and development to find the best treatment-s for this age group. The present proposal is for a randomised, controlled trial of three treatments that have been shown recently to have promise as treatment methods for this age group of patients. The trial will compare (1) a treatment that involves biofeedback muscle activity during speech, (2) a treatment that involves biofeedback of voice box activity during speech, and (3) a variant of a standard treatment that trains the speaker in a new speech pattern. The control group will receive no treatment. The trial extends for a period of 12 months after the subjects are randomly allocated to a treatment group or a control group. The subjects' speech will be assessed in a variety of situations in the clinic and during everyday life. The prime outcome measure will be percentage of syllables stuttered, and secondary measures will be the time required for treatment and how natural the patients sound after treatment. At the conclusion of the trial, the subjects in the control group will be given the treatment that was shown to be most effective.