title: Speech rate in Parkinson's disease: A controlled study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Speech disturbances will affect most patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) over the course of the disease. The origin and severity of these symptoms are of clinical and diagnostic interest.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the clinical pattern of speech impairment in PD patients and identify significant differences in speech rate and articulation compared to control subjects. Speech rate and articulation in a reading task were measured using an automatic analytical method.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 39 PD patients in the 'on' state and 45 age-and sex-matched asymptomatic controls participated in the study. None of the patients experienced dyskinesias or motor fluctuations during the test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The patients with PD displayed a significant reduction in speech and articulation rates; there were no significant correlations between the studied speech parameters and patient characteristics such as L-dopa dose, duration of the disorder, age, and UPDRS III scores and Hoehn & Yahr scales.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with PD show a characteristic pattern of declining speech rate. These results suggest that in PD, disfluencies are the result of the movement disorder affecting the physiology of speech production systems.
authors: Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Murcia, Murcia, España. Electronic address: franms@um.es.
authors: F
authors: F
authors: Martínez-Sánchez
authors: Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, España; Instituto de Neurociencias de Castilla y León, INCYL, España.
authors: J J G
authors: JJ
authors: Meilán
authors: Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, España; Instituto de Neurociencias de Castilla y León, INCYL, España.
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Carro
authors: Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Jaume I de Castellón, Castellón, España.
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Gómez Íñiguez
authors: Instituto de Neurociencias de Castilla y León, INCYL, España.
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Millian-Morell
authors: Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Murcia, Murcia, España.
authors: I M
authors: IM
authors: Pujante Valverde
authors: Instituto de Neurociencias de Castilla y León, INCYL, España.
authors: T
authors: T
authors: López-Alburquerque
authors: Instituto de Neurociencias de Castilla y León, INCYL, España.
authors: D E
authors: DE
authors: López
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000978:Antiparkinson Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001184:Articulation Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007980:Levodopa / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology*; D013060:Speech
chemical_list: D000978:Antiparkinson Agents; D007980:Levodopa
keywords: Articulation rate; Enfermedad de Parkinson; Habla; L-dopa; Parkinson's disease; Speech; Speech rate; Velocidad articulatoria; Velocidad de elocución; Voice; Voz