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Who Is Affected by Stuttering

About 5% of children stutter for 6 months or more.1 Stuttering most commonly begins around age 5 but generally occurs any time between ages 2 and 7.2 About 75 out of 100 children who stutter get better without treatment.1 Boys are more likely than girls to keep stuttering.1

Those with persistent speech problems have developmental stuttering. Approximately 1% of adolescents are affected by developmental stuttering.3 This figure drops to approximately 0.8% by adulthood.2

Citations

  1. Guitar B, Conture EG (2007). The Child Who Stutters: To the Pediatrician, revised 4th ed. (Publication No. 23). Memphis: Stuttering Foundation of America. Also available online: http://www.stutteringhelp.org/Portals/english/0023tped.pdf.
  2. American Psychiatric Association (2000). Stuttering. In Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed., text rev., pp. 67–69. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.
  3. Ursano AM, et al. (2008). Communication disorders section of Disorders usually first diagnosed in infancy, childhood, or adolescence. In RE Hales et al., eds., American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Psychiatry, 5th ed., pp. 874–877. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing.
By Healthwise Staff
Primary Medical Reviewer Susan C. Kim, MD - Pediatrics
Specialist Medical Reviewer Robert M. Kroll, BsC, MSc, PhD - Speech Pathology
Last Revised August 13, 2010

Last Revised: August 13, 2010

Author: Healthwise Staff

Medical Review: Susan C. Kim, MD - Pediatrics & Robert M. Kroll, BsC, MSc, PhD - Speech Pathology

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