Stuttering impacts on activities and participation of teenagers and adults

Abstract

Introduction: Stuttering may affect activities and participation of people who stutter, including social and personal aspects. Objective: To investigate the repercussion of stuttering and its implications on activities and participation of adolescents and adults who stutter, based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. Method: A qualitative and quantitative cross-sectional study with 40 participants, 10 adults and 10 preadolescents/adolescents who stutter and are under speech-language pathology treatment (G1), and 10 adults and 10 preadolescents/adolescents that do not stutter (G2). The data collection included: i) questionnaire with participants profile; ii) production of an oral narrative for classification of the Speech Fluency Profile and iii) semi-structured interviews. Results: In Speech Fluency Profile, all G1 participants presented alterations in the studied parameters, distinct from the one observed for G2. For International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health domains, G1 participants, especially adults, reported more problems in environmental factors, body functions and activities and participation than G2 participants. Conclusion: The results show the impact of stuttering on the life of people who stutter, based on scientific International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, which made possible a more comprehensive and global analysis of the participants profile. The comparison between groups shows distinct perceptions of speech by both groups, G1 had worse results than G2, especially for adults who stutter.