Longitudinal effects of Parkinson's disease on the production of an unstructured speaking task: Respiratory physiologic and acoustic considerations

Zeina Marie Saba, Purdue University

Abstract

The current study seeks to investigate the effects of the progression of Parkinson's disease (PD) on respiratory support for speech during an extemporaneous speech task using a longitudinal design. Eight individuals with PD, four females and four males, and eight age and sex-matched controls (OC) spoke extemporaneously about a topic of their choice for approximately two minutes. Data were collected at two waves of time, Wave 1 and Wave 2, separated by 3.63 years on average. Lung volume initiations (LVI), lung volume terminations (LVT), lung volume excursions (LVE), % vital capacity (%VC) expended per syllable, number of syllables produced per second, and syllables per breath group were measured. Individuals with PD had lower LVI, LVT, and smaller LVE from Wave 1 to Wave 2 while the OC showed no changes in LVI, a decrease in LVT, and a larger LVE from Wave 1 to Wave 2. Individuals with PD had no changes in SPL and %VC per syllable, an increased rate of speech, and shorter utterances from Wave 1 to Wave 2. The OC showed an increase in SPL and %VC per syllable, no changes in speech rate, and shorter utterance lengths from Wave 1 to Wave 2 waves. It is clear from these data that typical aging and PD result in very different changes to respiratory support for speech. In individuals with PD, the lower LVI and LVT suggest that the progression of the disease is linked with changes to respiratory physiology, which may be as a result of increased rigidity in the respiratory system. The changes in lung volumes, including a decrease in LVE, likely resulted in a decrease in utterance length for individuals with PD. The increase in LVE with shorter utterances was likely due to the increase in %VC per syllable for the OC.

Degree

M.S.

Advisors

Huber, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Speech therapy

COinS