Survey and analysis of patterns of stuttering among Zambian school children

A survey of stuttering among Zambian (Lusaka) schoolchildren indicated that the incidence of the disorder is approximately the same as that reported in Western literature (i.e. .97% of the total school population) and that it is also significantly related to factors such as age, sex, level of education, and housing conditions. However, the predicted increase of incidence from primary to secondary school level was not evident, and the possibility of the existence of a process which filters out the stutterers at school entry and secondary selection level was discussed. No significant relationship was found between incidence and first language of the speaker. Secondary symptoms of the dis¬order showed no deviations from previous reports. Apart from stuttering, it was found that 42% of the population under consideration were suffering from various other speech defects.
An analysis of patterns of stuttering among a sample of stutterers indicated that the frequency of stuttering is significantly related to the position of a word in an utterance but is not affected by whether first language or English is being spoken. Comparing the vulnerability of different sounds, the results did not support the bulk of previous evidence which suggests that consonants are more stutter-prone than vowels.There was no evidence of a significant relationship between stuttering and left-handedness or between stuttering and intelligence. Also there was no evidence that stuttering adversely affects school
performance. Most stutterers in the sample claimed to stutter more frequently at school than in any other situation.