Association of Malnutrition with Delayed Speech among Children 2-6 Years Undergoing Speech Therapy at Rehabilitation Center

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine the association of malnutrition with delayed speech children who underwent speech therapy.
METHODOLOGY: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted enrolling 138 children age 2 to 6 years, with delayed speech, and of both gender, using non-probability consecutive sampling technique at the speech therapy department of National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, Islamabad from October 2019 - March 2020. Children with all congenital abnormalities which can impaired speech, deaf, age more than 06 or below 2 years, and cases whose parents do not provide consent to participate in the study were excluded. Data was collected after seeking consent from the guardian of the respondent through a pre-developed scale to assess nutrition status and delayed speech was assessed by underachievement of verbal, reading, and spelling. The data were analyzed through SPSS 23.0.
RESULTS: Most of the respondents were male (72.5%), residents of urban areas (84.1%), and not going to schools (60.9%). 79% were rich and well-nourished (68.1%), in speech level-I (59.4%). No relationship was observed between malnutrition and delayed speech level (p-value=0.30). Age, education status, residential status, and monthly income were found in association with delayed speech (p-value <0.00).
CONCLUSION: There was no significant relationship between malnutrition and delayed speech level.
KEYWORDS: Nutrition, Malnutrition, speech, delay speech, children, speech therapy.