Development and Pilot Testing of Virtually Simulated Intervention for Patients Having Stuttering

Overview

This study aims to develop and pilot test a culturally appropriate virtual reality (VR)-based speech restructuring intervention for individuals with stuttering in Pakistan. During the development phase, five VR scenarios representing common real-life communication situations will be designed using a structured development process, including scenario generation, storyboarding, live-action role plays, expert review, and standard operating procedure (SOP) development. The scenarios will incorporate graded difficulty levels, speech restructuring practice, relaxation exercises, interactive avatars, and realistic audiovisual elements. Following development, a pilot study will be conducted with 10 participants with stuttering aged 13-35 years to evaluate the feasibility, usability, and preliminary effectiveness of the intervention. Participants will receive 16 therapy sessions using the VR scenarios, with assessments conducted before and after the intervention to measure changes in stuttering severity, speech fluency, communication attitudes, associated motor behaviors, physiological factors, and sense of presence within the virtual environment. Findings from the pilot study will be used to refine the intervention before conducting a larger clinical trial.

This study consists of the development and pilot testing of a culturally adapted virtual reality (VR)-based speech restructuring intervention for individuals with stuttering in Pakistan. The overall objective is to design an immersive intervention that simulates everyday speaking situations while providing opportunities to practice speech restructuring techniques in a controlled and progressive virtual environment. During the development phase, five VR scenarios will be created based on commonly encountered communication situations within the Pakistani cultural context. The scenarios will be developed with increasing levels of communication difficulty and will exclude culturally inappropriate or violent content. The development process will involve literature review, observation of real-life communication situations, brainstorming and ideation, storyboard development, live-action role plays, and conversion into immersive 3D virtual environments. A neutral adaptation environment will be included to familiarize participants with the VR system before exposure to therapeutic scenarios. The VR intervention will be delivered using the Oculus Quest 2 head-mounted display. Each scenario will incorporate realistic environmental sounds, interactive avatars of different ages and genders, adjustable audience size and positioning, emotional expressions, varying question types, distractors, time-limited speaking tasks, relaxation exercises, and opportunities to practice speech restructuring techniques. Standard operating procedures (SOPs) will be developed to ensure standardized setup, equipment handling, participant safety, and intervention delivery. The content validity of the developed scenarios will be evaluated by six experts with at least two years of relevant professional experience using the Content Validity Index (CVI), and modifications will be made based on expert feedback. Following development, a single-group pilot study will be conducted at Pakistan Railway Hospital to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of the intervention. Ten bilingual participants aged 13-35 years with mild to severe stuttering will be recruited according to predefined eligibility criteria. Individuals with additional communication disorders, neurological disorders, intellectual disabilities, or significant psychological conditions will be excluded. Participants will undergo baseline assessment followed by 16 intervention sessions conducted three times per week, with each session lasting approximately 25 minutes. The intervention will begin with orientation and training in speech restructuring techniques, followed by progressive practice within five VR communication scenarios: lecture hall, grocery store, restaurant, telephone conversation, and job interview. The final sessions will focus on practicing all scenarios and facilitating the transfer of learned skills to real-life communication environments. Outcome measures will be collected before and after the intervention using standardized assessment tools. These will include real-time analysis of speech fluency, dysfluency index, assessment of physiological factors associated with stuttering, the Modified S Scale for communication attitudes and emotions, assessment of associated motor behaviors, and the Presence Questionnaire to evaluate participants' experience within the virtual environment. Data from the pilot study will be analyzed using SPSS Version 20. Descriptive statistics will summarize participant characteristics and feasibility outcomes. Changes between baseline and post-intervention assessments will be analyzed using either the paired-samples t-test or the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, depending on the distribution of the data. Feedback obtained during participant debriefing sessions will be used to further refine the VR intervention protocol before proceeding to a larger-scale clinical trial.