Prevalence of Cluttering in Two European Countries: A Pilot Study

Purpose Until now, little has been known about the prevalence of “pure” cluttering in a general population. This study sheds light on the prevalence of cluttering in populations of normally developing pre-adolescents in the Netherlands and Germany who do not stutter or have other communication disorders. Method 304 adolescents (Netherlands, n=219/393; Germany, n= 85) were screened with the Predictive Cluttering Inventory-Revised (PCI-r), and when cluttering characteristics were detected, tested for cluttering, using the Fluency Assessment Battery (FAB). Results In total, a group of 13 adolescents had a PCI-r score above 23, indicating the necessity for further fluency assessment. Four adolescents met all the diagnostic criteria for cluttering. The prevalence of pure cluttering in the Dutch study was computed to be 1.1%. The prevalence of pure cluttering in the German study was computed to be 1.2%. Conclusion The PCI-r can serve as an appropriate screening tool for further fluency assessment and should be administered by a speech-language pathologist (SLP). The prevalence of cluttering in a population of normally developing adolescents who do not stutter was found to be about 1.1%.