PROMPT intervention for children with severe speech motor delay: a randomized control trial

Aravind K Namasivayam,Anna Huynh,Vina Law,Francesca Granata,Pascal Van Lieshout

doi:10.1038/s41390-020-0924-4

Aravind K Namasivayam, Anna Huynh + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-020-0924-4

Copy DOI

Abstract

BackgroundCurrently, there is limited information on the intervention efficacy for children with speech motor delay (SMD). This randomized control trial (RCT) study examined the effectiveness of Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets (PROMPT) intervention to improve the outcomes in children with SMD. We hypothesized that children with SMD receiving PROMPT intervention would improve more in the measured outcomes than those waitlisted and receiving home training.MethodsUsing a two-arm, parallel group, RCT, 49 children with SMD were allocated to either an intervention group (N = 24) that received 45 min of PROMPT intervention two times a week for 10 weeks or were waitlisted for the same duration and received only home training instructions (N = 25). Outcome measures for speech motor control, articulation, speech intelligibility (word and sentence levels), and functional communication were assessed at baseline and at a 10-week follow-up.ResultsPROMPT intervention was associated with notable improvements in speech motor control, speech articulation, and word-level speech intelligibility. Intervention allocation yielded weak improvements in sentence-level speech intelligibility and functional communication.ConclusionsPROMPT intervention is a clinically effective intervention approach for children with SMD.ImpactCurrently, there is limited information on the intervention efficacy for children with SMD.We report on the findings of a phase III intervention efficacy study on children with SMD using an RCT design.PROMPT intervention is a clinically effective intervention approach for children with SMD.Results of the study will be fundamental to the delivery of effective services for this population.These findings may facilitate the development of an evidence-based care pathway for children with severe speech sound disorders.

Highlights

The purpose of this paper is to report on the findings of a phase III intervention efficacy study using Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets (PROMPT) on children with speech motor delay (SMD) using a randomized control trial (RCT) design
The results indicate that a 10-week PROMPT intervention improved speech motor control, articulation, and word-level speech intelligibility in children with severe SMD
Future research may consider budgeting for the recruitment of a larger sample size involving more sites. This is the first RCT to examine the efficacy of PROMPT intervention for children with severe SMD

Summary

Introduction

Children with MSD are resistant to traditional articulation and phonological intervention approaches and are at a greater risk for persistent SSD.[3,4,5,6] As a result, these children are more likely to experience short- and long-term difficulties in social, emotional, and academic domains.[7] To limit the impact of SSD on those domains, it is critical to identify the specific nature of a child’s speech disorder and select clinically effective interventions For both CAS and DYS populations, intervention efficacy has been recently demonstrated using randomized control trials (RCTs);[8,9] only limited information is presently available on the nature, diagnosis, and intervention efficacy for children with SMD.[10,11] The present study focused on children with SMD. CONCLUSIONS: PROMPT intervention is a clinically effective intervention approach for children with SMD

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion