Introduction:

the learning of the mother tongue constitutes for many the greatest intellectual feat that man can accomplish. Men express themselves, exchange ideas and are understood in most cases through oral communication. It is necessary that the individual possesses the minimum skills and knowledge to understand and also generate a normal language, through the harmonious work of the three levels of oral communication: language, speech and voice.

Objective:

to characterize the behavior of oral communication alterations in pediatric age patients in the province of Pinar del Río, attended at the Pepe Portilla Pediatric Hospital, in the period 2017-2021.

Methods:

an observational, descriptive, longitudinal and retrospective study was carried out, taking data from the logophoniatric clinical history that were processed by means of the statistical system InfStat 1.0. The universe and the sample consisted of 539 patients who met the inclusion criteria.

Results:

67,7 % of the sample was male; 52,9 % of the patients were evaluated for the first time between 3 and 5 years of age; secondary delay in language development was the most frequent disorder, followed by dyslalia. Attendance for evaluation at the provincial center varied depending on the municipality of origin.

Conclusions:

early diagnosis of oral communication disorders, timely treatment and the united work of parents and rehabilitators are fundamental in the success of the development of the child's language skills.

        · resumen en Español     · texto en Español | Inglés     · Español ( pdf )