Risk Factors for Speech-Language Pathologies in Children

Abstract

Risk factors are understood to encompass "aspects of individual behavior or lifestyle, environmental exposure, hereditary or congenital characteristics that are associated with a health related condition". These are conditions that increase the chances of the child presenting speech-language disorders and that can be avoided, controlled, or treated. Risk is deined as the chance of a child exposed to certain factors (environmental or biological) to acquire or develop speech-language disorders. The objectives of the present study were: to identify the risk factors for speech-language disorders in children up to ive years of age and to verify the relationship between risk factors and speech-language diagnostic hypotheses. The aspects of being male gender, prematurity, shyness, being an only child or youngest child, presenting deleterious oral habits, having a family history of speechlanguage disorders, and use of licit or illicit drugs during pregnancy seem to be the factors that should draw the atention of the health professionals in child development.Therefore, the monitoring of children who have these risk factors should be performed in order to promote the necessary stimulation and the construction of healthy environments.Keywords: risk factors, language development, child development, language development disorders, speech disorders IntroductionSpeech therapy, as a communication science, has a broad perspective on health systems and services at the three levels of care (primary, secondary, and tertiary). Practices in the aspects of language, voice, hearing, and oral motricity should be addressed to people and social © 2017 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.groups, not only with a clinical perspective, but also through the development of promotion, prevention, atention, and health education actions, which are aligned with the indicators of quality of life and health of the population for which the care proposal [1] will be elaborated.To this end, rather than planning models for identifying the prevalence and incidence of language disorders in children, one must identify the risk factors for these disorders. In the national literature, it is possible to ind studies with this theme, but often associated with a speciic pathology, such as stutering and phonological disorders [2,3].Risk factors are understood to encompass "aspects of individual behavior or lifestyle, environmental exposure, hereditary, or congenital characteristics that are associated with a health related condition" (Health Sciences Descriptors, DECS) [4]. These conditions that increase the chances of the child presenting speech-language disorders and that can be avoided, controlled, or treated. Risk is deined as the chance of a child exposed to certain factors (environmental or biological)...

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“…There are some factors, such as family history and gender, that might affect the children's communication skills development [20,21]. Family history of speech-language disorders is one of the risk factors for these impairments in children up to five years old [22]. Sunderajan and Kanhere [23], Molini-Avejonas et al [22], Saeed et al [24], and Conti-Ramsden and Durkin [25] highlighted the higher prevalence of speech-language impairments in children with positive family history.…”

“…Family history of speech-language disorders is one of the risk factors for these impairments in children up to five years old [22]. Sunderajan and Kanhere [23], Molini-Avejonas et al [22], Saeed et al [24], and Conti-Ramsden and Durkin [25] highlighted the higher prevalence of speech-language impairments in children with positive family history. Twin studies [26] and family aggregation studies [27], as well as genetic linkage analyses [28], provided strong evidence of running speech-language impairments in families.…”