Study Finds Stuttering in Adolescence Linked to Higher Risk of Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes in Early Adulthood

The study found an association between stuttering in adolescence and a higher risk of dysglycemia in early adulthood for women and men. Screening and targeted prevention may be beneficial in this population, especially women. Stuttering is a speech disorder characterized by interruptions in the flow of speech,

Analyzing data from over 866,000 individuals, the researchers found that women and men with a history of stuttering faced significantly increased risks of developing dysglycemia compared to those without, with aHRs of 1.18 & 1.61, respectively.

Dysglycemia encompasses a range of conditions involving abnormal blood glucose levels, including prediabetes and diabetes. Gilad Twig, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel, and colleagues aimed to investigate the association between stuttering during adolescence and dysglycemia onset (type 2 diabetes or prediabetes) in early adulthood among men and women.

For the cohort study, the research team included Maccabi Health Services members evaluated for mandatory military service at ages 16–19 during 1990–2019 and followed until 31 December 2020. Stuttering status was recorded in the baseline medical evaluation. Using prediabetes and diabetes registries, they systematically identified incident cases of dysglycemia. Cox proportional hazard models were applied for women and men separately, adjusting for medical status and sociodemographics.

The researchers reported the following findings:

• The study cohort comprised 866,304 individuals (55% men; 0.21% with stuttering) followed for a total of 12,696,250 person-years.
• During the study period, 7.6% of men and 9.0% of women were diagnosed with dysglycemia. The mean ages at diagnosis were 32 and 34 years for women and men, respectively.
• Women with stuttering exhibited the highest dysglycemia incidence rate (102.3 per 10,000 person-years) compared with the other groups (61.4, 69.0, and 51.9 per 10,000 person-years for women without stuttering, men with stuttering, and men without stuttering, respectively).
• For both men and women, those with stuttering showed an increased risk of being diagnosed with dysglycemia compared with those without (adjusted hazard ratios 1.18 and 1.61, respectively). The associations persisted in extensive sub-analyses.

In conclusion, adolescents of both sexes with stuttering had a higher risk for dysglycemia development (prediabetes or type 2 diabetes) in young adulthood.

"This population should be encouraged to maintain a metabolically favorable lifestyle, including physical activity and a healthy diet, and be medically followed to reduce type 2 diabetes risk in young adulthood," the researchers wrote.

Reference:

Rabotin, A., Schwarz, Y., Pinhas-Hamiel, O., Amir, O., Derazne, E., Tzur, D., Chodick, G., Afek, A., Tsur, A. M., & Twig, G. (2024). Stuttering in adolescence and the risk for dysglycemia in early adulthood. Diabetes/Metabolism Research and Reviews, 40(5), e3828. https://doi.org/10.1002/dmrr.3828