Osteopathic correction as part of complex treatment of delayed speech and mental development in preschool children

Introduction. Delayed psychomotor development (DPD) is a group of disorders united by clinical symptoms of lagging speech and mental development. The exact diagnosis is established at 3–5 years of age, when impairments begin to affect the child′s mental development, thinking skills, and understanding of abstract concepts. According to epidemiological studies, the prevalence of DPD in preschool children ranges from 8 to 10 %, depending on the socioeconomic conditions of their region of residence. Timely comprehensive multidisciplinary intervention can correct these impairments; however, it is often associated with high pharmacological burden and the need for daily visits to healthcare facilities over extended periods to undergo medical procedures, which carries certain risks given the high morbidity rates among preschoolers. The search for new non-pharmacological correction methods within the combined treatment of children with DPD–aimed at reducing drug burden on the developing organism and optimizing treatment protocols by decreasing the frequency of clinic visits–defined the purpose of this study.
The aim of the study: to evaluate the effect of incorporating osteopathic correction into combined treatment for preschool children with DPD on neuropsychological and speech therapy development indicators.
Materials and methods. A prospective randomized study was conducted at Children′s Polyclinic № 3 (Groznyy) from January 2023 to October 2023, involving 50 children diagnosed with DPD. Participants were divided into two comparable groups: a main group and a control group (25 children each). Patients in the main group received standard drug therapy, psychological-speech therapy correction, and osteopathic correction. Control group patients received only drug therapy and psychological-speech therapy correction. Upon treatment completion, osteopathic status, neuropsychological, and speech therapy indicators were assessed.
Results. Preschool children with DPD most frequently exhibited regional and local-level somatic dysfunctions. Dominant regional somatic dysfunctions included: Head region (64 %), Visceral component of the neck region (20 %), Meninges region (12 %). Incorporating osteopathic correction into combined treatment significantly increased the speech development coefficient from 14,6±1,5 to 44,4±0,9 (p<0,05), achieving normal speech development levels compared to the control group, where speech development remained low.
Conclusion. Within combined DPD treatment for preschoolers, osteopathic correction alongside standard drug therapy and psychological-speech therapy significantly improves speech development levels—normalizing them—compared to standard pharmacological and psychological-speech therapy alone in this patient category.

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