Heidi Martens1, Gwen Van Nuffelen2, Tomas Dekens3, Maria Hernández-Díaz Huici4, Hector Arturo Kairuz Hernández-Díaz5, Miet De Letter6, Marc De Bodt7. 1. Antwerp University, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Wilrijk, Belgium. Electronic address: heidi.martens@edpnet.be. 2. Antwerp University, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Wilrijk, Belgium; Antwerp University Hospital, Rehabilitation Centre for Communication Disorders, Wilrijkstraat 10, B-2650 Edegem, Belgium; Ghent University, Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, De Pintelaan 185, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: Gwen.van.nuffelen@uza.be. 3. Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Department of ETRO-DSSP, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: tdekens@etro.vub.ac.be. 4. Antwerp University, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Wilrijk, Belgium. Electronic address: MariaE.Hernandez-Diaz@uantwerpen.be. 5. Center for Studies on Electronics and Information Technologies, Universidad Central Marta Abreu de Las Villas, 54830 Santa Clara, Cuba. Electronic address: akairuz@uclv.edu.cu. 6. Ghent University, Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, De Pintelaan 185, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: Miet.DeLetter@UGent.be. 7. Antwerp University, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Wilrijk, Belgium; Antwerp University Hospital, Rehabilitation Centre for Communication Disorders, Wilrijkstraat 10, B-2650 Edegem, Belgium; Ghent University, Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, De Pintelaan 185, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: Marc.de.bodt@uza.be.
Abstract
PURPOSE: Most studies on treatment of prosody in individuals with dysarthria due to Parkinson's disease are based on intensive treatment of loudness. The present study investigates the effect of intensive treatment of speech rate and intonation on the intelligibility of individuals with dysarthria due to Parkinson's disease. METHODS: A one group pretest-posttest design was used to compare intelligibility, speech rate, and intonation before and after treatment. Participants included eleven Dutch-speaking individuals with predominantly moderate dysarthria due to Parkinson's disease, who received five one-hour treatment sessions per week during three weeks. Treatment focused on lowering speech rate and magnifying the phrase final intonation contrast between statements and questions. Intelligibility was perceptually assessed using a standardized sentence intelligibility test. Speech rate was automatically assessed during the sentence intelligibility test as well as during a passage reading task and a storytelling task. Intonation was perceptually assessed using a sentence reading task and a sentence repetition task, and also acoustically analyzed in terms of maximum fundamental frequency. RESULTS: After treatment, there was a significant improvement of sentence intelligibility (effect size .83), a significant increase of pause frequency during the passage reading task, a significant improvement of correct listener identification of statements and questions, and a significant increase of the maximum fundamental frequency in the final syllable of questions during both intonation tasks. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that participants were more intelligible and more able to manipulate pause frequency and statement-question intonation after treatment. However, the relationship between the change in intelligibility on the one hand and the changes in speech rate and intonation on the other hand is not yet fully understood. Results are nuanced in the light of the operated research design. LEARNING OUTCOMES: The reader will be able to: (1) describe the effect of intensive speech rate and intonation treatment on intelligibility of speakers with dysarthria due to PD, (2) describe the effect of intensive speech rate treatment on rate manipulation by speakers with dysarthria due to PD, and (3) describe the effect of intensive intonation treatment on manipulation of the phrase final intonation contrast between statements and questions by speakers with dysarthria due to PD.
PURPOSE: Most studies on treatment of prosody in individuals with dysarthria due to Parkinson's disease are based on intensive treatment of loudness. The present study investigates the effect of intensive treatment of speech rate and intonation on the intelligibility of individuals with dysarthria due to Parkinson's disease. METHODS: A one group pretest-posttest design was used to compare intelligibility, speech rate, and intonation before and after treatment. Participants included eleven Dutch-speaking individuals with predominantly moderate dysarthria due to Parkinson's disease, who received five one-hour treatment sessions per week during three weeks. Treatment focused on lowering speech rate and magnifying the phrase final intonation contrast between statements and questions. Intelligibility was perceptually assessed using a standardized sentence intelligibility test. Speech rate was automatically assessed during the sentence intelligibility test as well as during a passage reading task and a storytelling task. Intonation was perceptually assessed using a sentence reading task and a sentence repetition task, and also acoustically analyzed in terms of maximum fundamental frequency. RESULTS: After treatment, there was a significant improvement of sentence intelligibility (effect size .83), a significant increase of pause frequency during the passage reading task, a significant improvement of correct listener identification of statements and questions, and a significant increase of the maximum fundamental frequency in the final syllable of questions during both intonation tasks. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that participants were more intelligible and more able to manipulate pause frequency and statement-question intonation after treatment. However, the relationship between the change in intelligibility on the one hand and the changes in speech rate and intonation on the other hand is not yet fully understood. Results are nuanced in the light of the operated research design. LEARNING OUTCOMES: The reader will be able to: (1) describe the effect of intensive speech rate and intonation treatment on intelligibility of speakers with dysarthria due to PD, (2) describe the effect of intensive speech rate treatment on rate manipulation by speakers with dysarthria due to PD, and (3) describe the effect of intensive intonation treatment on manipulation of the phrase final intonation contrast between statements and questions by speakers with dysarthria due to PD.
Authors: Viviana Mendoza Ramos; Charlotte Paulyn; Leen Van den Steen; Maria E Hernandez-Diaz Huici; Marc De Bodt; Gwen Van Nuffelen Journal: Int J Lang Commun Disord Date: 2021-01-23 Impact factor: 3.020