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Table 2. Summary of Studies of Risk Factors

Language Author/Year Population Age range
(months)
Speech & language domains Family history Male sex SES Birth order Perinatal factors Parental education Medical conditions Other associations
English Language Brookhouser, 197936 24 referred from Boys Town Institute. 28-62 Language 0 NR NR NR NR NR X NR
Campbell, 200337 398 cases and 241 controls from a large, prospective study in Pittsburgh, PA. 36 Speech X X X NR NR X
Mother
NR NR
Cantwell, 198538 600 children referred from a speech and hearing clinic in Los Angeles, CA. 20-191 Multiple types NR NR NR NR NR NR NR X
Psychiatric, behavioral, or developmental disorder
Choudhury, 200339 42 cases with positive family histories and 94 controls from New York City, NY area. 36 Language X X 0 NR NR 0
Mother or father
0
Asthma
X
Older parents, more children in family
Singer, 200140 98 cases (VLBW/BPD), 70 VLBW/non BPD controls, and 95 term controls from Cleveland, OH region hospitals. 36 Language NR NR X NR NR NR X
BPD, PDA
X
Neurologic risk, minority race
Tallal, 198941 76 cases and 54 controls from the San Diego, CA Longitudinal Study. 48-59 Language X NR NR NR NR Mother
X Father
NR NR
Tomblin, 199142 662 from a longitudinal cohort. 30-60 Speech and language X X NR X
Born later
NR O
Mother
X
Father
NR NR
Tomblin, 199743 177 cases and 925 controls from metro regions of Iowa or Illinois. Kindergarten age Speech and language X NR NR NR 0
Low birth weight
X
Mother or father
NR X
Younger mother, less breastfeeding
Whitehurst, 199144 62 cases and 55 controls from Long Island, NY. 24-38 Expressive language 0 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR
Non-English Language Fox, 200245
(Germany)
65 cases and 48 controls. 32-86 Speech X NR NR NR X
Birth difficulties, sucking habits
NR NR NR
Klein, 198646
(Israel)
72 kindergarten children from a middle-class urban area. 48-108 Vocabulary NR NR NR NR NR NR NR 0
Child's behavior
Kloth, 199547
(Netherlands)
93 referred because one or both parents were stutterers or had a history of stuttering. 23-58 Stuttering NR NR NR NR NR NR NR 0
Mother stutters, mother's speaking style or rate
Lyytinen, 200148
(Finland)
107 with familial risk of dyslexia and 93 without. 0-54 Speech and language X NR NR NR NR NR NR NR
Peters, 199749
(Netherlands)
946 from a Dutch birth cohort in Nijmegen. 84-96 Language and educational attainment NR 0 NR NR 0
Preterm or low birth weight
X NR X
Dutch as a second language
Weindrich, 200050
(Germany)
320 recruited at birth at a German hospital. Tested at 54 and 96 months Receptive and expressive language and articulation (54 months); reading and spelling (96 months) NR NR NR NR X
Preterm, toxemia, low birth weight
X
Mother or father
NR X
Parental psychiatric disorder, overcrowding, parental broken home or delinquency, one-parent family, unwanted pregnancy
"Yliherva, 200151
(Finland)
8,370 recruited at birth from 2 northern provinces of Finland (99% of pregnant women in 1985-1986). 96 Speech, language, learning, motor abilities NR X NR NR X
Preterm, low birth weight
0
Mother
X
Impaired hearing
0
Mother's age
X
>4 children in family, reconstructed family status

Key/Abbreviations
X = statistically significant association
0 = variable examined and not associated with delay
NR = not reported
SES = socioeconomic status
VLBW = very low birth weight
BPD = bronchopulmonary dysplasia
PDA = patent ductus arteriosis

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