scholarly journals Visual Analog Scale Ratings and Orthographic Transcription Measures of Sentence Intelligibility in Parkinson's Disease With Variable Listener Exposure

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 1222-1232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Defne Abur ◽  
Nicole M. Enos ◽  
Cara E. Stepp
2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (2S) ◽  
pp. 583-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phil Weir-Mayta ◽  
Kristie A. Spencer ◽  
Tanya L. Eadie ◽  
Kathryn Yorkston ◽  
Sara Savaglio ◽  
...  

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an internally versus externally cued speech task on perceived understandability and naturalness in speakers with Parkinson's disease (PD) and cerebellar disease (CD).MethodSentences extracted from a covertly recorded conversation (internally cued) were compared to the same sentences read aloud (externally cued) by speakers with PD and a clinical comparison group of speakers with CD. Experienced listeners rated the speech samples using a visual analog scale for the perceptual dimensions of understandability and naturalness.ResultsResults suggest that experienced listeners rated the speech of participants with PD as significantly more natural and more understandable during the reading condition. Participants with CD were also rated as significantly more understandable during the reading condition, but ratings of naturalness did not differ between conversation and reading.ConclusionsSpeech tasks can have a pronounced impact on perceived speech patterns. For individuals with PD, both understandability and naturalness can improve during reading tasks versus conversational tasks. The speech benefits from reading may be attributed to several mechanisms, including possible improvement from an externally cued speech task. These findings have implications for speech task selection in evaluating individuals with dysarthria.


2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 433-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi-Fang Chiu ◽  
Amy Neel

Purpose This study investigated whether perceptual ratings of speech parameters were predictive of transcription intelligibility in quiet and in noise for speakers with Parkinson's disease (PD). Method Ten speakers with PD and five healthy controls read 56 sentences. One group of 60 listeners orthographically transcribed the sentences in quiet, and another group of 60 listeners transcribed in noise. An additional 23 listeners judged a variety of speech parameters, including articulation, prosody, resonance, voice quality, and ease of understanding on a visual analog scale. Scores of the visual analog scale ratings were regressed against transcription intelligibility in quiet and in noise. Results Perceptual ratings of all the speech parameters were lower for speakers with PD. Global speech understanding, indexed by ease of understanding ratings, was associated with transcription intelligibility in quiet and in noise with a stronger effect in noise. Among the rated speech parameters, ease of understanding and voice quality ratings were significant predictors of speech intelligibility in noise. Conclusions Speech in individuals with PD was more difficult for listeners to understand and was characterized by deficits in articulation, prosody, resonance, and voice quality compared to normal speech produced by healthy older adults. Ease of understanding ratings, even when performed in quiet, predicted intelligibility in noise. Poor voice quality ratings in PD, a sign of phonatory deficit, had a negative impact on intelligibility in noise for speakers with PD.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoko Sekimoto ◽  
Genko Oyama ◽  
Taku Hatano ◽  
Fuyuko Sasaki ◽  
Ryota Nakamura ◽  
...  

Background. We investigated the feasibility and safety of a video-based telemedicine system, delivered via a tablet, in Parkinson’s disease (PD).Methods. In a randomized, crossover, open-label pilot trial, we compared a telemedicine period (regular visits every two months with intermediate video calls via an iPad mini) with a control period (regular visits every two months), both lasting 6 months. We included 10 patients diagnosed with PD according to the British Brain Bank criteria, aged 20–75 years. The primary outcome was the PD questionnaire summary index (PDQ-39 SI). Secondary outcomes included the Hoehn and Yahr Stage and scores on the Unified PD Rating Scale (UPDRS) part I–IV, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and visual analog scale for satisfaction.Results. Both study periods were completed by 10 patients with PD. Friedman’s test revealed that there were no significant differences between the two periods in primary and secondary outcomes (p>0.05). With respect to visual analog scale scores for satisfaction, participants indicated high satisfaction with the telemedicine system. The number of extra hospital visits and phone calls did not differ between the periods. There were no adverse events or side effects.Conclusions. We observed that a telemedicine system delivered via a tablet could successfully be used by patients as a part of their care. Further studies investigating the use of telemedicine to replace in-person visits are warranted. This trial is registered withUMIN000015536.


2014 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 779-792 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kris Tjaden ◽  
Joan E. Sussman ◽  
Gregory E. Wilding

Purpose The perceptual consequences of rate reduction, increased vocal intensity, and clear speech were studied in speakers with multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson's disease (PD), and healthy controls. Method Seventy-eight speakers read sentences in habitual, clear, loud, and slow conditions. Sentences were equated for peak amplitude and mixed with multitalker babble for presentation to listeners. Using a computerized visual analog scale, listeners judged intelligibility or speech severity as operationally defined in Sussman and Tjaden (2012). Results Loud and clear but not slow conditions improved intelligibility relative to the habitual condition. With the exception of the loud condition for the PD group, speech severity did not improve above habitual and was reduced relative to habitual in some instances. Intelligibility and speech severity were strongly related, but relationships for disordered speakers were weaker in clear and slow conditions versus habitual. Conclusions Both clear and loud speech show promise for improving intelligibility and maintaining or improving speech severity in multitalker babble for speakers with mild dysarthria secondary to MS or PD, at least as these perceptual constructs were defined and measured in this study. Although scaled intelligibility and speech severity overlap, the metrics further appear to have some separate value in documenting treatment-related speech changes.


Author(s):  
Pei Huang ◽  
Yuan-Yuan Li ◽  
Jung E. Park ◽  
Ping Huang ◽  
Qin Xiao ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT: We investigated the effects of botulinum toxin on gait in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients with foot dystonia. Six patients underwent onabotulinum toxin A injection and were assessed by Burke–Fahn–Marsden Dystonia Rating Scale (BFMDRS), visual analog scale (VAS) of pain, Timed Up and Go (TUG), Berg Balance Test (BBT), and 3D gait analysis at baseline, 1 month, and 3 months. BFMDRS (p = 0.002), VAS (p = 0.024), TUG (p = 0.028), and BBT (p = 0.034) were improved. Foot pressures at Toe 1 (p = 0.028) and Midfoot (p = 0.018) were reduced, indicating botulinum toxin’s effects in alleviating the dystonia severity and pain and improving foot pressures during walking in PD.


1997 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. E4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamal M. Taha ◽  
Jacques Favre ◽  
Thomas K. Baumann ◽  
Kim J. Burchiel

The goals of this study were to analyze the effect of pallidotomy on parkinsonian tremor and to ascertain whether an association exists between microrecording findings and tremor outcome. Forty-four patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) who had drug-induced dyskinesia, bradykinesia, rigidity, and tremor underwent posteroventral pallidotomy. Using a 1-μ-tip tungsten electrode, microrecordings were obtained through one to three tracts, starting 10 mm above the pallidal base. Tremor severity was measured on a patient-rated, 100-mm Visual Analog Scale (VAS), both preoperatively and 3 to 9 months (mean 6 months) postoperatively. Preoperatively, tremor was rated as 50 mm or greater in 24 patients (55%) and as less than 25 mm in 13 patients (30%). Postoperatively, tremor was rated as 50 mm or greater in five patients (11%) and less than 25 mm in 29 patients (66%). The difference was significant (p = 0.0001). Four patients (9%) had no postoperative tremor. Tremor improved by at least 50% in eight (80%) of 10 patients in whom tremor-synchronous cells were recorded (Group A) and in 12 (35%) of 34 patients in whom tremor-synchronous cells were not recorded (Group B). This difference was significant (p = 0.03). Tremor improved by at least 50 mm in all (100%) of the seven Group A patients with severe (>= 50 mm) preoperative tremor and in nine (53%) of 17 Group B patients with severe preoperative tremor. This difference was also significant (p = 0.05). The authors proffer two conclusions: 1) after pallidotomy, tremor improves by at least 50% in two-thirds of patients with PD who have severe (>= 50 mm on the VAS) preoperative tremor; and 2) better tremor control is obtained when tremor-synchronous cells are included in the lesion.


2016 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 230-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaila L. Stipancic ◽  
Kris Tjaden ◽  
Gregory Wilding

Purpose This study obtained judgments of sentence intelligibility using orthographic transcription for comparison with previously reported intelligibility judgments obtained using a visual analog scale (VAS) for individuals with Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis and healthy controls (K. Tjaden, J. E. Sussman, & G. E. Wilding, 2014). Method Speakers read Harvard sentences in habitual, clear, loud, and slow conditions. Sentence stimuli were equated for peak intensity and mixed with multitalker babble. A total of 50 listeners orthographically transcribed sentences. Procedures were identical to those for a VAS reported in Tjaden, Sussman, and Wilding (2014). Results The percent correct scores from transcription were significantly higher in magnitude than the VAS scores. Multivariate linear modeling indicated that the pattern of findings for transcription and VAS was virtually the same with respect to differences among groups and speaking conditions. Correlation analyses further indicated a moderately strong, positive relationship between the two metrics. The majority of these correlations were significant. Last, intrajudge and interjudge listener reliability metrics for the two intelligibility tasks were comparable. Conclusion Results suggest that there may be instances when the less time-consuming VAS task may be a viable substitute for an orthographic transcription task when documenting intelligibility in mild dysarthria.


2012 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 214-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P. Cannito ◽  
Debra M. Suiter ◽  
Doriann Beverly ◽  
Lesya Chorna ◽  
Teresa Wolf ◽  
...  

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document