Objective: To evaluate the functional impact of LSVT LOUD and LSVT ARTIC on voice and communication in individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) immediately post and at 6 months following treatment via two standardized self-rating scales: the Voice Handicap Index (VHI; Jacobson et al., 1997) and the modified Communication Effectiveness Index (CETI-M).

Background: LSVT LOUD is an intensive voice treatment developed for PD. Over 20 years of research data have demonstrated the efficacy of this treatment (e.g., Ramig et al, 2001). LSVT LOUD targets the hallmark PD voice symptoms of decreased loudness, hoarseness, and monotonicity. LSVT ARTIC is an intensive articulation treatment that was designed to be a contrastive, parallel treatment to LSVT®LOUD with potential to improve speech articulation. In combination with objective measures, patient reported functional outcomes following behavioral treatment are key. Thus, the VHI was utilized to investigate voice specific changes, and the CETI-M to evaluate overall communication effectiveness.

Methods: 64 individuals with PD (disease duration: 4.7 (5.2)) were randomly assigned to one of three groups: LSVT LOUD, LSVT ARTIC, or no treatment (Notx). Both treatments included 4-one hour individual sessions a week for 4 weeks (16 sessions). 20 individuals without PD served as healthy age matched controls (HC). CETI-M and VHI were collected Pre, immediately Post and at 6 months (FU) following the treatment phase.

Results: There were no significant differences among the 3 PD groups at Pre, but there was a significant difference between HC and the 3 PD groups Pre, with the HC scoring better. Significant improvement was noted for LSVT Pre-Post and Pre-FU for both CETI-M and VHI; for LSVTA Pre-Post for CETI-M, Pre-Post and Pre-FU for VHI. Notx and HC had no significant changes Pre-Post or Pre-FU.

Conclusions: Results of this study demonstrate that prior to treatment, subjects with PD rated themselves worse than HC on perceptual measures of voice and communication, and these ratings significantly improved from Pre-Post for both treated groups, maintaining improvement at FU for LSVT and for LSVTA on the VHI. These results indicate a positive impact of voice and articulation treatment on patient reported outcomes of voice and communication in individuals with PD.

Portions of this data have been presented previously.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/parkinson-patient-reported-outcomes-of-voice-and-communication-pre-post-and-6-months-following-lsvt-loud-and-lsvt-artic/