The acquisition and development of language requires an understanding of the physical and psychosocial aspects of diagnosis and treatment. A successful partnership between phoniatric doctors and speech therapists is often necessary to facilitate a favorable prognosis. OBJECTIVE: To characterize phoniatric practice in a clinically and epidemiologically valid manner, considering the main complaint of childhood speech problems and associated treatment indications, focusing on the team approach with speech pathologists. METHODS: Study design: cross-sectional cohort study. We performed a quantitative analysis of 297 pediatric cases aged <12 years, who presented for phoniatric appointments. The outcome variables were as follows: referral origin, gender, age, diagnosis, and treatment approach. RESULTS: In the sample, 64% were men and 36% were women. Most patients presenting for phoniatric treatments were referred by speech therapists (30.7%). The main complaints were speech problems: delays, exchanges, and dysfluencies (49.5%). The most common diagnoses were: specific language impairment (SLI) (23.0%), motor and oral dyspraxia (3.7%), language acquisition delay (6.0%), and hearing impairment (5.0%). Ultimately, 32.0% were referred for speech therapy, and 13.5% were referred for psychotherapy. The remaining patients were referred to other professionals for additional tests. CONCLUSION: Most patients were men. Most patients were referred because of issues related to the development of speech and language. The most common diagnosis was SLI. The leading treatment indication was speech therapy, suggesting that a favorable prognosis requires an interdisciplinary approach involving phoniatric and speech clinics.
