Prevalence of Speech Disorders Reaches Higher than 15 Percent

Member of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences Academic Board announced the average prevalence of speech disorders worldwide to be in the ranges of 8 to 10 percent.

He also added that: according to conducted researches, the national average prevalence of speech disorders in Iran has increased to more than 15 percent, which are mostly due to family marriages and environmental stress factors.

Dr. Sobhani stated at a press conference reported by WebDa that special attention must be paid to early diagnosis and treatment of speech disorders.

The Dr. also added that: if these disorders are diagnosed at an earlier age, for example, in pre-elementary students, the likelihood of a successful treatment are much higher.

He also mentioned that: a large proportion of pediatric disorder referrals, especially at younger ages such as kindergarten students are suffering from stuttering, hearing loss, autism, and speech disorders, usually due to mental retardation diseases such as Daun syndrome, sound articulation disorder, and reading and writing complications.

Dr. Sobhani Rad also added that: aside from children, most speech disorders in adults usually occur as a result of accidents, brain damages, brain tumors, and brain strokes.

According to this Supervisor of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences Department of Speech Therapy, the minimum treatment period for these patients is 6 months.

Dr. Sobhani pointed out that more than 6 thousand pre-elementary students have been screened for speech disorders in Mashhad, he also added: these screenings were conducted with the help of Khorasan Razavi Welfare and Education Institutions as of this year.

He continued that: in this regard, disorders such as stuttering, sound articulation disorders, and movements of the mouth area and sound complications in children will be evaluated and investigated.

He also stated: It is our hope to include a larger population of pre-elementary students of Mashhad with speech disorders during the upcoming year.

Dr. Sobhani concluded that: speech disorders in large cities are mostly due to issues such as problems of being a bilingual, stressing children to learn different languages. Also, most autism cases were a result of urbanism and the stressing situation it creates for pregnant mothers.