Dyslexia Treatment Studies: A Systematic Review and Suggestions on Testing Treatment Efficacy With Small Effects and Small Samples
Behavior Research Methods
Toffalini, E., Giofrè, D., et al. (2021).
Behavior Research Methods, 53(5), 1954-1972.
This systematic review and meta-analysis investigates the effects of reading treatments on reading outcomes in individuals with developmental dyslexia, reading disorders, or reading performance below the 25th percentile. This article extends the review conducted by Galuschka, et al. (2014). See the associated article below and supplemental materials, Part 2 for efficacy of treatments by intervention approach.
Università degli Studi di Padova (Italy)
January 2013 to June 2020
Published quantitative studies that included a control group, randomization, and pre- and post-test reading assessments
40
Overall findings revealed that reading treatments, some of which fall outside of speech-language pathology scope of practice, had moderate significant effects on reading outcomes for individuals with dyslexia or reading disorders (d=0.38; 95% CI=0.31-0.46). Small to moderate significant treatment effects were found for interventions within SLP score of practice (e.g., phonemic awareness instruction, phonics instruction, working memory treatment; see Supplemental material, Part 2). However, given the small median sample sizes and high risk of publication bias, further research is warranted.
