Research In Context Flashcards
What did they do before the study?
Using the key words “Parkinson’s disease,” “intelligibility,” and “speech treatment,” we searched the Cochrane Database and PubMed for relevant articles from Jan. 1, 1988 to May 15, 2020.
And they found from those? How many trials RCTs had been done?
Three randomised controlled trials (RCTs) on speech treatment in PD were identified, all of which revealed benefits of intensive speech treatment targeting voice. While these studies were the first to generate short- and long-term efficacy data for speech treatment in PD, they were primarily confined to acoustic and physiologic measures and patient and family reports; no RCT examined whether speech treatment improves speech intelligi- bility in PD.
What were the results from the first RCT?
intensive speech treatment targeting voice improves speech intelligibility in PD.
What are scientific advance os this test?
1) two active speech treatment comparators and an inactive compara- tor to dissociate the effects of speech treatment target and dos- age; 2) orthographic transcription accuracy data collected from blinded listeners (n = 117), implementing the gold standard and most objective measure of intelligibility; 3) inclusion of the dimension of patients’ vocal loudness in intelligibility assess- ment for the first time in an RCT.
What are the implications of all the available evidence?
intensive speech treatment targeting voice can make short- and long-term improvements across a range of variables in PD, including vocal loudness, vocal quality, articulation, intonation, swallowing disorders, and patient-reported communication effectiveness, consistent with neural findings (positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging). Our findings demonstrate that intensive speech treatment targeting voice improves speech intelligibility in PD. Taken together with previously reported gains following treatment targeting voice, there is substantial evidence that this treatment results in meaningful improve- ments in communication.
