2023 Volume 69 Issue 1 Pages 32-35
Stuttering is a disorder of speech fluency. It occurs primarily in early childhood but may persist beyond elementary school age, resulting in negative consequences in academic and professional activities that require conversation. We started a stuttering clinic for all age groups in September 2017, with 239 new visits through August 2021. We examined changes over time with respect to the route of visit and place of residence. The results showed that more than half of the patients came via the Internet when the stuttering outpatient clinic first started, and referrals from other institutions and from family members and acquaintances have increased. In addition, although our clinic is located in Kurume City, we found that the number of patients coming from outside Kurume City and Fukuoka Prefecture has also increased. In conclusion, we found that there are many patients who have problems with stuttering with few places that accept them, so many patients travelled from locations far away from the clinic. We need to continue to cooperate with doctors and speech-language pathologists to support patients who stutter.
