Dysarthria in Friedreichs Ataxia: A Perceptual Analysis

The aims of this study were to: (1) evaluate the perceptual speech dimensions, speech intelligibility and dys arthria severity of a group of individuals diagnosed with Friedreich’s ataxia (FRDA); (2) determine the presence of subgroups within FRDA dysarthria; (3) investigate the relationship between the speech outcome and the clinical factors of disease progression. The study included 38 individuals (21 female, 17 male) with a confirmed diagnosis of FRDA. A group of 20 non-neurologically impaired individuals served as controls. Perceptual analysis, investigating 30 different dimensions of speech, was conducted on a speech sample obtained from each participant. In addition, the Assessment of Intelligibility of Dysarthria Speech was administered. All FRDA participants presented with dysarthria with severities ranging from mild to moderate. Cluster analysis revealed 3 subgroups, the first presenting with mild dysarthric symptoms, the second with increased velopharyngeal involvement and the third characterized by increased laryngeal dysfunction. Dys arthria severity showed a significant correlation to disease duration but to no other clinical measure. Published online: April 29, 2010 Mrs. Joanne Folker School of Health and Rehabilitation Science The University of Queensland St Lucia, Qld. 4072 (Australia) Tel. +61 3346 7484, Fax +61 7 3365 1877, E-Mail j.folker @ uq.edu.au © 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel 1021–7762/10/0623–0097$26.00/0 Accessible online at: www.karger.com/fpl D ow nl oa de d by : 54 .7 0. 40 .1 1 11 /1 9/ 20 17 7 :3 7: 26 A M