Infection and speech: Disfluency and other speech symptoms in Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome

U Prosell, H Norman, A Sand, A McAllister, Infection and speech: Disfluency and other speech symptoms in Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome, Journal of Communication Disorders, 2022, 106250, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2022.106250.

  • Onset of speech disfluency in association with PANS or PANDAS was reported by 54.5% of the caregivers, supporting a connection between PANS and PANDAS and speech disfluency
  • A possible link between infection and disfluency is reactualized from the 1900s
  • Most frequent disfluency symptoms were
    • higher speech rate, superfluous verbal behavior, verbal block, associated motor symptoms
  • Previous findings of vocal tics, baby talk, and mutistic behavior are supported
  • Reported disfluency shares several characteristics with stuttering and cluttering, but the caregivers did not consistently associate it with stuttering.
  • Exposed previously unreported symptoms such as
    • impaired articulation, reduced intelligibility, reduced speech production, language impairment
  • Indicates a substantial impact on speech fluency, speech, and language in affected children, reducing quality of life.
  • Eleven caregivers reported that medical treatment had a positive effect on speech fluency

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