Objective: The current study aimed to investigate the effects of body position on the level and severity of stuttering in young adults with developmental stuttering.
Methods: A total of 24 subjects (male: 17; female: 7; mean age: 24.9 ± 6.2 years) with developmental stuttering participated. The participants were asked to perform oral reading and spontaneous monologue-speaking tasks in different body postures while their speech was recorded. During reading and speaking tasks, the Stuttering Severity Instrument was used to quantify the severity of stuttering. The effects of different body postures on stuttering severity, reading task, and speaking task scores were analyzed.
Results: Significant differences in stuttering severity, reading task, and speaking task scores were found for different body postures. Post hoc analyses revealed a significant difference in stuttering severity, reading task, and speaking task scores when subjects were sitting on a chair with no arm support compared to lying down (p<0.05). Similarly, there were significant differences for two sitting positions (sitting on a chair with no arm support vs sitting on a chair with arm support (p<0.05)).
Conclusions: Body postures or body segment positions that relax and facilitate the muscles of the neck and shoulders may potentially improve speech fluency in young adults with developmental stuttering.