Skip to main content
. 2023 Oct 5;34(3):924–951. doi: 10.1007/s11065-023-09617-z

Table 1.

Overview of studies included in the meta-analyses [EHI Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (Oldfield, 1971), LHfc left-handedness (forced choice), LHe left-handedness (extreme), MH mixed-handedness, NonRH non-right-handedness, Cont continuous data]

Study Handedness classification Stuttering assessment Handedness measurement Males % Mean age in years Included in meta-analysis Notes
LHfc LHe MH NonRH Cont
Ardila et al., 1994 R-M-L Adapted version of the questionnaire of Roberts et al. (1990) Self report (“Are you right-handed, left-handed, or ambidextrous?”) 52.16 22.55
Arnold et al., 2011 R-L Speech evaluation & Stuttering Severity Instrument 3 (Riley, 1994) EHI 66.67 4.54
Arnstein et al., 2011 R-M-L Stuttering Severity Instrument 3 (Riley, 1994) Self-report on a three-choice item (“right-handed, “left-handed”, “mixed”) 96.43 30.65
Brosch et al., 1999 R-No preference-L Stuttering Severity Instrument (Riley, 1972) Laterality tests 58.05 5.25 Children were classified as either right- or left-handed on the basis of how they threw a ball, drew a picture, grasped an object and kicked a ball. If two of the four tests were done with different hands or if they changed hands when the tests were repeated, the children were classified as ‘no hand preference’
Bryngelson & Rutherford, 1937 R-Ambidextrous-L Speech evaluation Not reported 44.59 10
Bryngelson, 1940 R-Ambidextrous-L Speech evaluation Not reported 37.18 24.5 The sum of the percentages reported in Table 1 for the individuals who stutter was 104%, so we extrapolated to 100%
Cavenagh et al., 2015 R-No preference-L Speech evaluation & parental report & Stuttering Severity Instrument (Riley, 1994) Parental report (“Is your child left- or right-handed?”) 60.08 4.04
Chang et al., 2015 R-Ambidextrous-L Speech evaluation & Stuttering Severity Instrument 4 (Riley, 2009) EHI 55.98 6.35 Categorical data are reported for 47 individuals who stutter and 42 controls, but continuous data are reported for 37 individuals who stutter and 40 controls
Choo et al., 2016 R-Ambidextrous-L Stuttering Severity Instrument 4 (Riley, 2009) EHI 58.05 5.77 The handedness of two individuals who stutter and one control could not be determined. Authors kindly provided more data
Chrysanthis, 1947 R-M-L Speech evaluation Not reported Not reported 10.5 Right-handed writers—Right-handed writers with characteristics of left-handedness—ambidextrous writers—Left-handed writers. The two middle categories were considered "mixed-handed" for the purposes of these analyses
Coalson & Byrd, 2015 (dataset 1) Continuous Self report & speech evaluation (O’Brian et al., 2004) EHI 63.63 21 Authors kindly provided the data
Coalson & Byrd, 2015 (dataset 2) Continuous Self report & speech evaluation (O’Brian et al., 2004) EHI 63.63 22.5 Authors kindly provided the data
Connally et al., 2014 R-L Stuttering Severity Instrument 3 (Riley, 1994) Not reported 67.29 23.45
Corbera et al., 2005 R-L DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association (APA), 1994) & Self-report questionnaire [Conduct and Attitude Scale for the Assessment of Disfluencies (CASAD)] EHI 83.97 22.75
Cross, 1987 R-L Profile of Stuttering Behavior (Van Ripen, 1971) (not clear if questionnaire was used or based on sample evaluation) EHI 100 25.5
Cykowski et al., 2010 Continuous Self report & speech evaluation (Ingham et al., 1999) EHI 100 30.7
Dellatolas et al., 1990 (dataset 1) Continuous/R-L Self report 10 questions regarding hand preference 51.75 34.5 The LIs are reported in the paper in a way that higher LIs corresponded to stronger left-handedness. We have transformed the scores so that higher scores correspond to stronger right-handedness, as was the case in the rest of the studies
Dellatolas et al., 1990 (dataset 2) Continuous/R-L Self report 10 questions regarding hand preference 100 20.5 As above
Desai et al., 2017 R-Non-right Speech evaluation & Assessment of the Child’s Experience of Stuttering (ACES) (Yaruss et al., 2006) & Overall Assessment of the Speaker’s Experience of Stuttering (OASES; Yaruss & Quesal, 2006) EHI 56.62 19.49
Frankford et al., 2021 R-Ambidextrous-L Self report & Stuttering Severity Instrument (Riley, 2009) EHI 66.67 29.28
Friedmann, 1937 R-Latent L-Manifest L Not reported Not reported Not reported Not reported The sum of percentages for the individuals who stutter was 102.8%, so we extrapolated to 100%. Both children and adults who stutter were included, whereas the control group consisted of children, thus the groups are not age-matched
Gough et al., 2018 R-L Stuttering Severity Instrument (Riley, 1994, 2009) Not reported 77.60 25.58
Hampton & Weber-Fox, 2008 R-L Stuttering Severity Instrument 3 (Riley, 1994) EHI 72.73 34.68
Hand & Haynes, 1983 R-Sinistral (L) Self report & Stuttering Severity Instrument (Riley, 1972) Neurosensory Center Handedness Inventory (Varney & Benton, 1975) 100 25
Jansson-Verkasalo et al., 2014 R-L Speech evaluation & Stuttering Severity Instrument 3 (Riley, 1994) Not reported 79.17 7.54
Jenson et al., 2018 R-L Stuttering Severity Instrument 4 (Riley, 2009) EHI 70.83 25.21
Kaganovich et al., 2010 R-L All criteria  by Yairi & Ambrose, 1999 met Parental report & 5 questions from EHI 69.44 4.83
Koenraads et al., 2020 R-L Parental report ΕΗΙ 64.08 10 Data from recovered stutterers are also reported, but we only included data from individuals with persistent stuttering
Kronfeld-Duenias et al., 2016 R-L Self report & Speech evaluation & Stuttering Severity Instrument 3 (Riley, 1994) EHI 82.11 32.5 Authors kindly provided raw data on EHI. We classified it into R-L using L >  = 50 and R > 50
Lescht et al., 2022 R-Ambidextrous-L Parental report & Stuttering Severuty Instrument (Riley, 2009) Abbreviated EHI 57.89 5.77
Liman et al., 2021 Continuous Stuttering Severity Instrument 3 (Riley, 1994) EHI 70 26.81
Maruthy et al., 2017 R-L Self report & Stuttering Severity Instrument 3 (Riley, 1994) Self report 90 21.1
Max & Yudman, 2003 R-M-L Self report & Stuttering Severity Instrument 3 (Riley, 1994) Lateral Preference Inventory (LPI; Coren, 1993) & Self report 70 34.1 We classified participants using information from Table 1 by assigning right for > 3 “right” responses, left for > 3 “left” responses and assigning the rest as mixed. We calculated the continuous score again using information from Table 1 and assigning 0 to “left”, 1 to” either” and 2 to “right” responses
Maxfield et al., 2015 R-L Self report & speech evaluation & Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience with Stuttering (OASES) (Yaruss & Quesal, 2006) Not reported 71.05 25.46
Mohammadi & Papadatou-Pastou, 2020 R-L & R-M-L Speech evaluation & Stuttering Severity Instrument 3 (Riley, 1994) EHI 72.9 6.55

Participants were classified as R-M-L using two cut-offs (- ± 80 and ± 60). Here we report the ± 80 cutoff point

The R-L classification was used in the LHfc meta-analysis and the R-M-L classification in the rest of the categorical meta-analyses

Murase et al., 2016 R-L Self report & Speech evaluation H.N. Handedness Inventory (Hatta, 1996) 80.77 32.65
Okasha et al., 1974 R-Left changed to R- L Speech evaluation Not reported Not reported 9 The "middle" category consists of "those who started left-handed and changed to right-handedness" as reported in the manuscript
Olander et al., 2010 R-L Speech evaluation (Yairi & Ambrose, 1999) 5 questions from EHI 72.85 4.88
Piispala et al., 2017 R-L Not reported Not reported 81.58 7.8
Porfert & Rosenfield, 1978 R-Non-right Self report Self report (“Are you right-, mixed-, or left-handed?”) 63.85 20.8 Handedness information on past stutterers and questionable stutterers were not included in the meta-analysis
Preibisch et al., 2003a R-Non-right Recruitment from a treatment program EHI 75.63 31
Preibisch et al., 2003b R-Non-right Self report & Speech evaluation EHI 100 31
Records et al., 1977 R-Ambidextrous-L Not reported Handedness questionnaire 55.45 Not reported Data were extracted from Table 3 (there were slight inconsistencies with other parts of the manuscript)
Rogic Vidakovic et al., 2016 R-L Recruitment from clinics & Stuttering Severity Instrument 3 (Riley, 1994) EHI 70.74 27.56
Sommer et al., 2002 R-Non-right Confirmation of diagnosis by pathologists/neurologists EHI 70 30.3
Toyomura et al., 2011 R-L Stuttering Severity Instrument 4 (Riley, 2009) Not reported 91.67 27.5
Toyomura et al., 2018 R-Ambidextrous-L Recruitment from self-help group & Stuttering Severity Instrument 4 (Riley, 2009) EHI 75 29.7
Toyomura et al., 2020 R-L Speech evaluation EHI 65.63 23.75
Vanhoutte et al., 2015 R-L Self report & Speech evaluation & Stuttering Severity Instrument 4 (Riley, 2009) EHI 72.29 29.4
Vreeswijk et al., 2019 Continuous Recruitment from stuttering therapy and support groups & Speech evaluation & Stuttering Severity Instrument (Sandrieser & Schneider, 2008) EHI 79.29 29.29
Walsh et al., 2019 R-L Speech evaluation (Yairi & Ambrose, 1999) & Test of Childhood Stuttering (TOCS; Gillam et al., 2009) EHI 76.43 4.65 Authors kindly provided handedness data
Watkins et al., 2008 R-L Stuttering Severity Instrument 3 (Riley, 1994) Not reported 63.33 18
Whillier et al., 2018 Continuous Stuttering Severity Instrument 3 (Riley, 1994) EHI 70.92 25.09
Wieland et al., 2015 Continuous Speech evaluation & Stuttering Severity Instrument 4 (Riley, 2009) EHI 47.06 8.75