USE OF FORMOTEROL IN THE TREATMENT OF STUTTERING. A PILOT STUDY

Aims: Stuttering is a serious health and social problem that can distinctively affect not only the mental development of an individual but also his life possibilities, including social fulfilment and his general life prospects. The etiology of stuttering is however unknown and that is why it is not possible to treat it causally. This pilot study takes into account the hypothesis of bronchial constriction as a negative factor in stuttering and investigates the effect of the long-acting bronchodilator formoterol fumarate on stuttering in 42 patients. Methods: Patients were divided in 2 groups - A (school children and juveniles) and B (adults 18-25 resistant to other treatment). The medicine was administered once a day in the morning in a dose of 12 μg for the total period of 6 months. The prime outcome parameter - severity of stuttering - was evaluated using the ordinary scale (McGill Pain Questionnaire). The evaluation was done by an examining physician during visits to the centres and by the patients themselves (in cases of the youngest with the assistance of a parent) in a daily diary. Results: A non-parametric pair test (Wilcoxon signed rank test) was used to compare the average marks in the whole set of patients. During the six moth period of administration of Foradil ® the speech fluency improved. The average number of dysfluent words decreased from 10.5 ± 1.3 to 6.6 ±0.97. Conclusion: The average mark of speech fluency evaluated by the physicians between the period of non use of Foradil ® and the six month period after the use of Foradil ® improved from 2.95 ± 0.76 to 1.95 ± 0.56 (as proved by the chi-square test, p<0.0001). The evaluation of speech fluency of balbuties uses the logopedic practices. Other clinical evaluations of speech fluency are not known. Stuttering is “explicitly” a disease 1 . It causes serious health and social problems that can distinctively affect not only the mental development of an individual but also their life possibilities, including social fulfilment and general life prospects. From the fact that in a small percentage of afflicted children stuttering improves spontaneously in adulthood, a false impression arises that stuttering does not deserve such great attention. Even though stuttering can improve spontaneously, it is necessary to note that it does not happen without reasons. In cases of severely stuttering people frustration can displace them from their life positions; a case is even recorded of a thirteen-year-old boy who stuttered and decided to end his life voluntarily 2 .