Objective: More than 80% of patients with Parkinson’s disease develop dysphagia during the course of the disease. Methods considered as ‘gold standard’ in swallowing evaluation are invasive and not always available. Aim of this study is to assess whether acoustic speech analysis can be used as a screening tool for oropharyngeal dysphagia detection in PD.

Background: Impaired swallowing in parkinsonian patients can lead to fatal complications, as aspiration pneumonia is a leading cause of death in this population. Recently published papers suggest a possible link between speech and deglutition. However, the exact acoustic parameters or tests that could be used for screening remain unknown.

Method: 40 patients (18 women, 22 men) aged from 36 to 82 with clinical diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease underwent fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) and acoustic speech analysis. Disease duration varied from 1 to 25 years. Endoscopic findings were compared with 60 evaluated acoustic parameters. Patients were divided into 3 groups depending on the severity of food residues in the laryngeal area after swallowing. Statistical analysis of possible correlations was performed.

Results: Statistically significant acoustic parameters that can differentiate patients with severe post-swallow residues form patients without that symptom are: APQ, R2H, U2H, 1/Q, YG, phonation time, true phonation time, energy modulation depth, voice efficiency coefficient, average voice capacity.
Acoustic parameters that can be used in assessment of post-swallow food residues severity are: 1/Q, YG, voice efficiency coefficient, average voice capacity, standard deviation of breaks between segments in speech disfluency test.

Conclusion: Acoustic speech analysis can be considered as additional screening tool for evaluation of oropharyngeal dysphagia in patients with Parkinson’s disease.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/is-acoustic-speech-analysis-applicable-for-evaluation-of-swallowing-impairment-in-patients-with-parkinsons-disease-pd/