Objective: The objective of this article was to evaluate the results of a prevention campaign on the access to early speech therapy for 4-year-old children.
Population and methods: A prevention campaign of speech disorders was conducted in Gironde area in 1999, offering a systematic screening by ERTL4 test and free speech therapy. The campaign results were evaluated by quality and efficiency indicators.
Results: In 1999, 14037 children born in 1995 were included and 1363 children randomly selected from the schools benefited from the campaign. One child out of four failed in the screening test by ERTL4. The percentage of the assessment and speech therapy in the children of the campaign (16.0 and 8.2%) were significantly higher than the other children of the area (8.9 and 6.7%).
Conclusion: The campaign evaluation has demonstrated its capacity to access to speech therapy for children language disorders, allowing gains of frequency and earlier treatment.