Dika RHOUSNAKA, Kevin Septia PRADIANSYAH, Aqshal Ilham FAHLIZA, Sri Utami ASMARANI, Heni HERYANI, Fıtrı AROFIATI, Andan FIRMANSYAH, Sri SUSILAWATI, Henri SETIAWAN
Ebelik ve Sağlık Bilimleri Dergisi - 2026;9(3):244-255
Objective: This systematic review evaluates the effectiveness of speech therapy on verbal communication abilities in children with genetic disorders. Method: A systematic search was conducted across seven databases PubMed, ProQuest, Garuda, JSTOR, ScienceDirect, CNKI, and Wiley covering studies published from 2020 to 2025. Eligible studies involved children with genetic disorders receiving speech-language therapy interventions. Verbal communication outcomes were measured using various standardized tools. Study selection followed PRISMA guidelines, and quality was appraised using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) checklist. The protocol was registered with PROSPERO (CRD420250645279). Result: Seven studies (n=218) met the inclusion criteria. Across these studies, interventions demonstrated significant improvements in verbal communication, particularly in articulation, vocabulary, and expressive language abilities. One study that applied the Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets (PROMPT) method reported notable effectiveness in improving speech outcomes, particularly in randomized controlled trials. Conclusion: Despite the limited number of studies and the heterogeneity of genetic disorders included, speech-language therapy, particularly using the PROMPT method, appears to be effective in enhancing verbal communication among children with genetic disorders such as Down syndrome, Fragile X syndrome, and autism spectrum disorder. These findings support the integration of structured, evidence-based speech interventions into early rehabilitation programs to improve communication outcomes.
