Dysarthria is a collective term used to describe a group of motor speech disorders. (17) It is caused by the underlying neurological deficits that impact the muscular control and execution of movement required for speech production. (18) Dysarthria is a common symptom of many neurological disorders, and the features of the speech dysfunction are distinctive. (17) Classic dysarthric presentations are characterised by a disturbance in the subsystems of speech, namely respiration, phonation, articulation, and resonance, resulting in reduced speech intelligibility and quality. (18)
Dysarthria is a cardinal and salient clinical symptom in FRDA (2, 19, 20) with a prevalence of 91%. (20) The severity of the dysarthria associated with this disorder ranges from mild to severe. (21) The heterogeneous and pervasive underlying …show more content…
The findings revealed the existence of differential speech profiles with features that are consistent with ataxic, spastic and flaccid dysarthria (1, 22-24). The studies compared the perceptual and acoustic findings with instrumental measures and found similar outcomes, hence validating the reliability. Perceptual-based descriptions included imprecise articulation, reduced speech rate and breath support, reduced pitch and loudness variation, increased nasality, and strained-strangled vocal quality. (21, 23, 25, 26) Acoustic-studies revealed prolongation of syllables, vowel and speech segmentations and fluctuation in the interval of unstressed syllables. (1) The aforementioned features represent crucial speech parameters contributing to the individuals’ speech intelligibility. (27) Studies revealed that speech and voice impairments severely impact the individuals’ ability to communicate. (28) Consequently, it impacts their daily functioning and ability to participate in the society, which results in reduced quality of life. (27,
Dysarthria is a cardinal and salient clinical symptom in FRDA (2, 19, 20) with a prevalence of 91%. (20) The severity of the dysarthria associated with this disorder ranges from mild to severe. (21) The heterogeneous and pervasive underlying …show more content…
The findings revealed the existence of differential speech profiles with features that are consistent with ataxic, spastic and flaccid dysarthria (1, 22-24). The studies compared the perceptual and acoustic findings with instrumental measures and found similar outcomes, hence validating the reliability. Perceptual-based descriptions included imprecise articulation, reduced speech rate and breath support, reduced pitch and loudness variation, increased nasality, and strained-strangled vocal quality. (21, 23, 25, 26) Acoustic-studies revealed prolongation of syllables, vowel and speech segmentations and fluctuation in the interval of unstressed syllables. (1) The aforementioned features represent crucial speech parameters contributing to the individuals’ speech intelligibility. (27) Studies revealed that speech and voice impairments severely impact the individuals’ ability to communicate. (28) Consequently, it impacts their daily functioning and ability to participate in the society, which results in reduced quality of life. (27,