title: Speech loudness and quality 12 months after intensive voice treatment (LSVT) for Parkinson's disease: a comparison with an alternative speech treatment.
abstract: Thirty-five individuals with idiopathic Parkinson's disease were enrolled in speech treatment. Twenty-two were enrolled in a high-effort phonatory-respiratory treatment program (Lee Silverman Voice Treatment, LSVT) and 13 were enrolled in a high-effort respiratory treatment program (RET). Perceptual judgments of speech loudness and quality were made independently by 6 listeners on recordings of the 'Rainbow Passage'. These recordings had been obtained just before treatment (pre) and at 12 months' follow-up (FU12). The speech samples in the LSVT group, but not in the RET group, were significantly more likely to be perceived 'louder' and 'better quality' at FU12 than at pre (p < 0.0001). These findings, along with others, suggest that the long-term effects of the LSVT are perceptible, clinically significant and treatment-specific.
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech Language Hearing Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Denver, Colo, USA.
authors.forename: Shimon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sapir
authors.forename: Lorraine O
authors.initials: LO
authors.lastname: Ramig
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hoyt
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Countryman
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hoehn
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications*; D011897:Random Allocation; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013064:Speech Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D013997:Time Factors; D014833:Voice Quality; D014834:Voice Training