TY - JOUR
T1 - Comorbidity and Severity in Childhood Apraxia of Speech
T2 - A Retrospective Chart Review
AU - Chenausky, Karen V.
AU - Baas, Becky
AU - Stoeckel, Ruth
AU - Brown, Taylor
AU - Green, Jordan R.
AU - Runke, Cassandra
AU - Schimmenti, Lisa
AU - Clark, Heather
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. All rights reserved.
PY - 2023/3
Y1 - 2023/3
N2 - Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate comorbidity prevalence and patterns in childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) and their relationship to severity. Method: In this retroactive cross-sectional study, medical records for 375 children with CAS (Mage = 4;9 [years;months], SD = 2;9) were examined for comor-bid conditions. The total number of comorbid conditions and the number of communication-related comorbidities were regressed on CAS severity as rated by speech-language pathologists during diagnosis. The relationship between CAS severity and the presence of four common comorbid conditions was also examined using ordinal or multinomial regressions. Results: Overall, 83 children were classified with mild CAS; 35, with moderate CAS; and 257, with severe CAS. Only one child had no comorbidities. The average number of comorbid conditions was 8.4 (SD = 3.4), and the average number of communication-related comorbidities was 5.6 (SD = 2.2). Over 95% of children had comorbid expressive language impairment. Children with comorbid intellectual disability (78.1%), receptive language impairment (72.5%), and non-speech apraxia (37.3%; including limb, nonspeech oromotor, and oculomotor apraxia) were significantly more likely to have severe CAS than children without these comorbidities. However, children with comorbid autism spectrum disorder (33.6%) were no more likely to have severe CAS than children without autism. Conclusions: Comorbidity appears to be the rule, rather than the exception, for children with CAS. Comorbid intellectual disability, receptive language impair-ment, and nonspeech apraxia confer additional risk for more severe forms of CAS. Findings are limited by being from a convenience sample of participants but inform future models of comorbidity.
AB - Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate comorbidity prevalence and patterns in childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) and their relationship to severity. Method: In this retroactive cross-sectional study, medical records for 375 children with CAS (Mage = 4;9 [years;months], SD = 2;9) were examined for comor-bid conditions. The total number of comorbid conditions and the number of communication-related comorbidities were regressed on CAS severity as rated by speech-language pathologists during diagnosis. The relationship between CAS severity and the presence of four common comorbid conditions was also examined using ordinal or multinomial regressions. Results: Overall, 83 children were classified with mild CAS; 35, with moderate CAS; and 257, with severe CAS. Only one child had no comorbidities. The average number of comorbid conditions was 8.4 (SD = 3.4), and the average number of communication-related comorbidities was 5.6 (SD = 2.2). Over 95% of children had comorbid expressive language impairment. Children with comorbid intellectual disability (78.1%), receptive language impairment (72.5%), and non-speech apraxia (37.3%; including limb, nonspeech oromotor, and oculomotor apraxia) were significantly more likely to have severe CAS than children without these comorbidities. However, children with comorbid autism spectrum disorder (33.6%) were no more likely to have severe CAS than children without autism. Conclusions: Comorbidity appears to be the rule, rather than the exception, for children with CAS. Comorbid intellectual disability, receptive language impair-ment, and nonspeech apraxia confer additional risk for more severe forms of CAS. Findings are limited by being from a convenience sample of participants but inform future models of comorbidity.
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U2 - 10.1044/2022_JSLHR-22-00436
DO - 10.1044/2022_JSLHR-22-00436
M3 - Article
C2 - 36795544
AN - SCOPUS:85150000175
SN - 1092-4388
VL - 66
SP - 791
EP - 803
JO - Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
JF - Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
IS - 3
ER -