A Report on Cases with Communication Disorders at a Tertiary care Hospital in Mysore District of Karnataka, India: A Retrospective Study Across Five Years

Communication disorders affect an individual's social, emotional and behavioural well-being. Estimating the number of clients with various causes of communication disorders can assist in the prevention, early identification, intervention, rehabilitation and counselling process. India is the second-largest populated country with diversity in terms of culture and geography. Therefore, estimating the data on number of clients presenting with communication disorders is warranted across different parts of the country. In a retrospective study, the clinical records of cases reporting to the JSS Institute of Speech and Hearing, Mysore, for the last five years were reviewed. A total of 9511 cases diagnosed with communication disorders were included in the study. The percentage of male cases was higher than the females amongst all the types of communication disorders. The percentage of paediatric cases with speech and language disorders was the highest, followed by adult cases. Across the hearing disorders, the highest number of cases were from the adult age group, and the lowest number of hearing-disordered cases were noted in the paediatric age group throughout all five years. Among all the risk factors, perinatal history was the highest seen risk factor, and consanguinity was the lowest seen risk factor associated with communication disorders. The results of the present study revealed that among cases with communication disorders at the tertiary care hospital in Mysore, hearing impairment was one of the most commonly seen conditions, followed by child language disorders. The history of perinatal factors as a risk for communication disorders was noted in a maximum number of cases.