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Newly Recognized Stuttering in Three Young Children Following the Hojedk Earthquake in Iran

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 June 2019

Hamid Jafari ,
Mahan Mohamadi ,
Asghar Haghjoo  and
Mohammad Heidari
Hamid Jafari
Affiliation:
Department of Health in Emergencies and Disasters, School of Health Management and Information, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Mahan Mohamadi
Affiliation:
Department of Health Management, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
Asghar Haghjoo*
Affiliation:
State Welfare Organization of Kerman, Rehabilitation Branch, Kerman, Iran
Mohammad Heidari
Affiliation:
Department of Medical and Surgical, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran
*
Correspondence: Asghar Haghjoo State Welfare Organization of Kerman Rehabilitation Branch Amirkabir Boulevard, Kerman, Iran E-mail: ahaghjoo2010@gmail.com
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Abstract

Natural disasters, particularly earthquakes, in addition to physical complications, have always had psychological consequences for those affected by them. Stuttering is one of the psychological consequences of shocking events. After a 6.6 magnitude earthquake in Hojedk, Kerman, Iran, two 5-year-old children and a 4-year-old child with symptoms of discontinuous speech (including repeated sound, syllable, and words) were referred to the Kerman Welfare Organization’s rehabilitation center (Kerman, Iran). After history-taking, it became clear that the children had begun to stutter after the earthquake due to fear and stress. Considering the importance of negative emotional experiences in the onset of stuttering, it cannot really be said with certainty that the negative experience of the earthquake initiated the stuttering. Rather, the stuttering had not been present before the earthquake and appeared after the event. These cases indicate the importance of psychosocial support and speech therapy after disasters, especially for children that have higher psychological vulnerability than other age groups.

Keywords

disasterearthquakespsychological impactstuttering
Type
Case Report
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 34 , Issue 4 , August 2019 , pp. 456 - 457
Copyright
© World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2019 

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