Assessing efficacy of stuttering treatments

Efficacy has been defined as the extent to which a specific intervention, p rocedure, regimen, or service produces a beneficial result under ideally co ntrolled conditions when administered or monitored by experts. Studies on e fficacy can be divided into those that study methods of conducting treatmen t (i.e., treatment process research) and those that are concerned with the effects of treatments (i.e., treatment outcome research). This review cover s both areas, emphasizes the former, and considers such key determinants of efficacy as measurement, treatment integrity, and design issues. A set of criteria is given and a meta-analysis of whether studies published since 19 93 meet these criteria is reported (incorporating some pragmatic and ethica l considerations). The review ends by considering directions that warrant f urther investigation in the future. Educational objectives: The reader will learn about and be able to describe (1) measurements appropriate for evaluating treatment efficacy studies; (2 ) how to evaluate reports of stuttering treatment programs; and (3) differe nt designs used in treatment efficacy studies. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science In c. All rights reserved.