Voice-Focused Speech Therapy Improves Voice Quality in Patients With Parkinson Disease

Intensive voice therapy notably improved both voice quality and sound pressure level in patients with Parkinson disease, according to study findings published in Journal of Voice.

“The majority of individuals with Parkinson disease experience voice and speech problems during the course of the disease,” wrote lead and corresponding author Gemma Moya-Galé, PhD, of Long Island University, and coauthors in the study background. “Despite the importance of voice quality in communication and the documented disordered voice quality in Parkinson’s disease, few studies have explored the effects of speech treatment on this variable.”

The study included 23 patients with Parkinson disease who underwent voice-focused LSVT LOUD therapy, 20 patients who underwent articulation-focused LSVT ARTIC therapy, and 22 patients who did not receive any speech treatment.

Only the voice-focused therapy group showed statistically significant improvements in voice quality, per the Acoustic Voice Quality Index, and sound pressure level from pretreatment to posttreatment and at follow-up 6 months later, according to study authors.

The articulation-focused therapy group showed significant improvement in voice quality only from pretreatment to 6-month follow-up.

Improvements in sound pressure level during maximum phonation were significant only immediately after treatment in the articulation-focused therapy group, found researchers.

Meanwhile, patients in the untreated group showed no significant changes in voice quality or sound pressure level throughout the study.

“This study investigated the effects of intensive speech treatment targeting voice or targeting articulation on voice quality, as measured by the Acoustic Voice Quality Index, in individuals with Parkinson disease,” concluded researchers. “Findings indicate that voice-focused treatment leads to greater improvements in voice quality in this population.”

Reference:
Moya-Galé G, Spielman J, Ramig LA, Campanelli L, Maryn Y. The acoustic voice quality index (AVQI) in people with Parkinson disease before and after intensive voice and articulation therapies: secondary outcome of a randomized controlled trial. J Voice. Published online April 18, 2022. S0892-1997(22)00080-7. doi:10.1016/j.jvoice.2022.03.014