Case study and its finalities for the speech and language clinic

ABSTRACT:

Purpose:

to identify and analyze the characteristics of academic research under the heading Case Report.

Methods:

we conducted an empirical-analytical research of papers published in Speech and Language magazines - DIC, CEFAC, CODAS and ACR, during the period of 2009-2014, totaling151 articles.

Results:

a) a certain preference for single case studies but a clear tendency to study up to five cases in relation to studies with larger numbers of subjects; b) regularity in one of the magazines, in the number of published case reports over the study period; progression in another and decrease in the other two; c) hegemony of articles in the field of language when crossing number of publications and Phonoaudiology specialty; (d) hegemony of studies with children compared to other age groups; (e) balance between the number of case reports discussing diagnosis and those discussing intervention; (f) case reports focusing on clinical procedures -- when diagnosis and therapy or intervention are associated - appear less. There was the need to critically analyze this finding, since Speech and Language Pathology, as a clinical discipline, should prevent separation between therapy and diagnosis. Structurally, the components of clinical practice are in constant articulation so that the direction of intervention can be identified, described and explained.

Conclusion:

although the case report has a constant presence in the analyzed publications, its importance to clinical reasoning is still quite underestimated.

Keywords:
Speech; Language and Hearing Sciences; Case Studies; Case Reports; Referral and Consultation