SAGE Open (Dec 2021)
Healthcare Solutions for Children Who Stutter Through the Structural Equation Modeling and Predictive Modeling by Utilizing Historical Data of Stuttering
Abstract
Earlier studies established the role of demographic and temperamental features (DTFs) in the adaptation of childhood stuttering. However, these studies have been short on examining the latent interrelationships among DTFs and not utilizing them in predicting this disorder. This research article endeavors to examine latent interrelationships among DTFs in relation to childhood-stuttering. The purpose of the present is also to analyze whether DTFs can be utilized in predicting the likely risk of this speech disorder. Historical data on childhood stuttering was utilized for performing the invloved experiments of this research. “Structural-Equation-Modeling” (SEM) was applied to examine latent interrelationships among DTFs in relation to stuttering. The predictive analytics approach was employed to ensure whether DTFs of children can be utilized for predicting the likely risk of childhood-stuttering. SEM-based path analysis explored potential latent interrelationships among DTFs by separating them into categories of background and intermediate. By utilizing the same set of the DTFs, predictive models were able to classify children into stuttering and non-stuttering groups with optimal prediction accuracy. The outcomes of this study showed how the stuttering related historical data can be utilized in offering healthcare solutions for individuals with stuttering disorder. The outcomes of the present study also suggest that historical data on stuttering is a very rich source of hidden trends and patterns concerning this disorder. These hidden trends and patterns can be captured by applying a different type of structural and predictive modeling to understand the cause-and-effect relationship among variables in relation to stuttering. The SEM utilizes the cause-and-effect relationship among variables to explore latent-interrelationships between them. While predictive modeling utilizes the cause-and-effect relationship among variables to predict the possible risk of stuttering with optimal prediction accuracy.