Evidence-based treatment of stuttering: II. Clinical significance of behavioral stuttering treatments.
An evidence-based framework can be described as an empirically-driven, measurement-based, client-sensitive approach for selecting treatments. It is believed that using such a framework is more likely to result in a clinically significant outcome. For this paper, a clinically significant outcome was defined as a meaningful treatment change. It was suggested that there are at least three groups for whom a treatment's outcome is meaningful. These groups include clinicians/clinical researchers, the clients, and relevant others who have some interest in the outcome (e.g., parents of a child who stutters). The meaning and measurement of clinical significance was discussed for each of these three groups, based on research from the behavioral stuttering treatment literature.


OBJECTIVE
The reader will learn about and be able to (1) broadly define a clinically significant outcome and identify some of the groups who are interested in such an outcome and (2) describe how clinical significance has been evaluated in stuttering treatment within an evidence-based framework.
Finn
Patrick
P
Department of Speech & Hearing Sciences, University of Arizona, P.O. Box 210071, Tucson, AZ 85721-0071, USA. pfinn@email.arizona.edu
D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000639:trends; D003657:Decision Making; D023381:Endpoint Determination; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D013070:Speech Therapy; D013342:Stuttering / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome