Assessement of heart rate variability in stuttering of children

Stuttering is the speech disorder that divides the normal flow of speech, spoken words, or speech by repetition or prolongation of words. Many theories have been put forward to explain the etiology of stuttering, but it is still not clear. The autonomic nervous system is part of the peripheral nervous system responsible for regulating involuntary body functions such as heart beat, blood flow, respiration, and digestion. In motor speech and development, the autonomic nervous system plays a direct or indirect role. HRV reflects physiological changes in heart rate due to the interaction between sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. There are very few studies investigating autonomic responses in stuttering individuals. In this study, it is aimed to make autonomic function evaluation in stuttering children by using HRV. . The study consisted of two groups, stuttering and non stuttering, who applied to the Medical Faculty of Ege University between October 2016 and April 2018 Stuttering group consisted of 30 males and 11 females, The control (healthy / normal) group consisted of 41 people, ranging from 6 to 18 years of age, who had any speech impairment complaints, and 12 of them were female and 29 of whom were male. The stuttering scores of the stuttering group were measured using SSI-4 (Stuttering Severity Instrument - 4). For both groups, ,HRV assessment was performed by using 24-hour Holter ECG ( electrocardiyografi) recording method at Ege University Hospital's Department of Cardiology and the following day, findings were recorded and evaluated by pediatric cardiologists. Correlation of the severity of stuttering and HRV parameters of the stuttering group and the correlation of HRV parameters of both groups were investigated. According to findings; In the stuttering group, positive correlations were found between seconder behaviors and SDANN parameters. In addition, when the correlation of HRV parameters in the groups was examined, the SDANN parameter in the stuttering group was statistically significantly higher than the other groups.(p<0,05) No significant difference was found when the other parameters were examined. As a result, when the stuttering children's HRV parameters were compared to non-stuttering children, no differences were found to prove the autonomic nervous system irregularity. KEY WORDS: Stuttering, HRV, Autonomic nervous system