Abstract
BACKGROUND: Speech problems are neurodevelopmental disorders rarely reported in children with congenital heart defects (CHD). This study aimed to elicit various speech disorders in children with CHD compared to controls. METHODOLOGY: This cross-sectional study involved 50 children with CHD and 50 children without CHD (control group). RESULTS: Children with heart defects had a higher mean score (1.02±0.16) for speech problems than the control (0.22±0.14), with a statistically significant p-value of <0.0001. Difficulty in understanding a child's speech was also more pronounced in children with heart defects (1.00±0.16) than in control (0.27±0.19), p=0.006. Understanding speech over the phone was significantly harder for children with heart defects (1.22±0.18) compared to control (1.93±1.83), p=0.003. The belief that a child might have a stutter was significantly higher in children with heart defects (0.65±0.14) versus (0.29±0.2), p=0.0001. Tourette's syndrome was reported more frequently in those with heart defects (1.14±0.18) than in those with heart defects (0.1±0.07; p=0.0001). Family history of speech or language disorder shows significant differences, with children with heart defects scoring 0.65±0.15 versus 0.01±0.001, p= 0.001. The prevalence of speech disorders was significantly higher in 36% of children with heart defects, which was significantly higher than 4% seen in controls. χ(2)=14.18; p=0.0001, Regarding the age of the child, 36.8% of children under five years of age had a speech disorder compared to 33.3% of those aged five years and older. p= 0.825, OR= 1.1 (95% CI: 0.2 - 4.5). CONCLUSION: Children with CHD presented with a higher prevalence of speech disorders compared with control. The prevalence of speech disorders among children with CHD was higher in children who were less than five years old. Furthermore, children with CHD had a significant family history of speech or language disorders than control.