| 1. |
- Antonsson, Malin, 1986, et al.
(författare)
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Effect of expiratory muscle strength training on voice and speech: An exploratory study in persons with Parkinson’s disease or multiple sclerosis
- 2023
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Ingår i: International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. - 1754-9507 .- 1754-9515.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: This study explored how respiration, voice, and speech were affected following expiratory muscle strength training (EMST) and maintenance training in persons with Parkinson’s disease (PD) or multiple sclerosis (MS). Method: Nine participants with PD and six with MS participated in a randomised study, where the effects of EMST, sham, and maintenance treatment were investigated. Outcome measures included maximum expiratory pressure (MEP); maximum phonation time (MPT); intelligibility; verbal diadochokinesis (DDK); speech rate; a self-report form on voice, speech, and communication; and open questions about how the participants experienced the intervention. Group comparisons were performed within and between groups. Result: The PD and the MS groups both improved significantly in MEP, and this improvement remained after 3 months of maintenance EMST. An improvement was also seen in DDK. Post-EMST, 33% of the PD group and 80% of the MS group reported a positive effect on communication. Conclusion: The results of this study support previous evidence that EMST has positive effects on expiratory pressure in persons with PD or MS, but its effect on voice and speech remains unclear. Since subjective reports of the intervention and effects on communication were predominantly positive, further research is needed on larger groups to explore appropriate outcome measures.
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| 2. |
- Azios, Jamie H., et al.
(författare)
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Quality and readability of English-language internet information for aphasia
- 2019
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Ingår i: International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. - : TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD. - 1754-9507 .- 1754-9515. ; 21:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: Little is known about the quality and readability of treatment information in specific neurogenic disorders, such as aphasia. The purpose of this study was to assess quality and readability of English-language Internet information available for aphasia treatment. Method: Forty-three aphasia treatment websites were aggregated using five different country-specific search engines. Websites were then analysed using quality and readability assessments. Statistical calculations were employed to examine website ratings, differences between website origin and quality and readability scores, and correlations between readability instruments. Result: Websites exhibited low quality with few websites obtaining Health On the Net (HON) certification or clear, thorough information as measured by the DISCERN. Regardless of website origin, readability scores were also poor. Approximate educational levels required to comprehend information on aphasia treatment websites ranged from 13 to 16 years of education. Significant differences were found between website origin and readability measures with higher levels of education required to understand information on websites of non-profit organisations. Conclusion: Current aphasia treatment websites were found to exhibit low levels of quality and readability, creating potential accessibility problems for people with aphasia and significant others. Websites including treatment information for aphasia must be improved in order to increase greater information accessibility.
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| 3. |
- Bergström, Liza, 1974, et al.
(författare)
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Cervical auscultation as an adjunct to the clinical swallow examination: a comparison with fibre-optic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing.
- 2014
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Ingår i: International journal of speech-language pathology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1754-9515 .- 1754-9507. ; 16:5, s. 517-28
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This prospective, single-blinded study investigated the validity and reliability of cervical auscultation (CA) under two conditions; (1) CA-only, using isolated swallow-sound clips, and (2) CSE + CA, using extra clinical swallow examination (CSE) information such as patient case history, oromotor assessment, and the same swallow-sound clips as condition one. The two CA conditions were compared against a fibre-optic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) reference test. Each CA condition consisted of 18 swallows samples compiled from 12 adult patients consecutively referred to the FEES clinic. Patients' swallow sounds were simultaneously recorded during FEES via a Littmann E3200 electronic stethoscope. These 18 swallow samples were sent to 13 experienced dysphagia clinicians recruited from the UK and Australia who were blinded to the FEES results. Samples were rated in terms of (1) if dysphagic, (2) if the patient was safe on consistency trialled, and (3) dysphagia severity. Sensitivity measures ranged from 83-95%, specificity measures from 50-92% across the conditions. Intra-rater agreement ranged from 69-97% total agreement. Inter-rater reliability for dysphagia severity showed substantial agreement (rs = 0.68 and 0.74). Results show good rater reliability for CA-trained speech-language pathologists. Sensitivity and specificity for both CA conditions in this study are comparable to and often better than other well-established CSE components.
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| 4. |
- Bergström, Liza, 1974, et al.
(författare)
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Community listeners' perceptions of voice function post-radiotherapy for laryngeal cancer.
- 2018
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Ingår i: International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1754-9507 .- 1754-9515. ; 20:5, s. 494-501
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Successful communication is influenced by communication partners, the community and communication environment. This study examines community members' perceptions of voice function following laryngeal cancer management compared to ratings by clinicians and patients.Sixty-six (Tis-T3) laryngeal cancer patients post-radiotherapy, 10 community members and three speech-language pathologists (clinicians) were recruited. Patients completed voice recordings and self-rated voice quality and acceptability, six months post-radiotherapy. Community members and clinicians rated patient voice recordings using (a) Voice Quality/Acceptability questionnaire, (b) Communicative Suitability Scale (voice function in different vocally demanding environments) and (c) a gender perception question.Ratings for voice quality differed significantly (p<0.001) between community members and clinicians and approached significance (p=0.08) between community members and patients. No significant difference for voice acceptability was noted between community members and clinicians/patients. Community members rated the irradiated voice significantly different (p≤0.02) across communication environments with more vocally demanding environments being rated as "Barely Sufficient". Incorrect sex identification (gender perception) occurred with 25% of females.Community communication partners identify functional voice impairments post-radiotherapy, particularly across more vocally demanding environments and for female speakers. Implications for voice rehabilitation including appropriate patient selection is highlighted.
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| 5. |
- Bergström, Liza, 1974, et al.
(författare)
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Dysphagia management: Does structured training improve the validity and reliability of cervical auscultation?
- 2022
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Ingår i: International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1754-9507 .- 1754-9515. ; 24:1, s. 77-87
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: Cervical auscultation (CA) uses a stethoscope or microphone to complement the clinical swallow examination by interpreting swallowing sounds and swallow-respiratory coordination. This study investigated the effects of structured CA training on CA-rating agreement with Flexible Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES) and CA rater reliability. Method: Thirty-nine speech-language pathologists participated in a structured CA training course at Gothenburg University. They rated nine swallow-respiratory sound recordings which were simultaneously recorded during FEES. Swallow sounds were rated six weeks prior to the CA-workshop using two binary yes/no questions, (1) Safe, (2) Dysphagia, and a third Dysphagia Severity rating. Swallow sounds were rated again (re-randomised) one month post CA-workshop. Result: Agreement with FEES (validity) improved significantly (p < 0.05) pre-post training for the Safe and Dysphagia questions, with post training sensitivities >90% and specificities at 76% and 85% respectively. Dysphagia severity rating improved non-significantly. Intra-rater reliability improved significantly with kappa statistics >0.90 post training. Improvements for inter-rater reliability were noted, though non-significant. Conclusion: Results demonstrate that with structured training, the validity of CA (to detect a Safe/Dysphagic swallow) significantly improves, as does intra-rater reliability. This is congruent with literature identifying the positive effects of structured training improving instrumental dysphagia assessment.
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| 6. |
- Bloch, Steven, 1965, et al.
(författare)
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Problematic topic transitions in dysarthric conversation
- 2015
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Ingår i: International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1754-9507 .- 1754-9515. ; 17:4, s. 373-383
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: This study examined the nature of topic transition problems associated with acquired progressive dysarthric speech in the everyday conversation of people with motor neurone disease. Method: Using conversation analytic methods, a video collection of five naturally occurring problematic topic transitionswas identified, transcribed and analysed. These were extracted from a main collection of over 200 other-initiated repair sequences and a sub-set of 15 problematic topic transition sequences. The sequences were analysed with reference to how the participants both identified and resolved the problems. Result: Analysis revealed that topic transition by people with dysarthria can prove problematic. Conversation partners may find transitions problematic not only because of speech intelligibility but also because of a sequential disjuncture between the dysarthric speech turn and whatever topic has come prior. In addition the treatment of problematic topic transition as a complaint reveals the potential vulnerability of people with dysarthria to judgements of competence. Conclusion: These findings have implications for how dysarthria is conceptualized and how specific actions in conversation, such as topic transition, might be suitable targets for clinical intervention.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Eriksson, Karin, 1965, et al.
(författare)
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Participant characteristics and observed support in conversations involving people with communication disorders
- 2016
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Ingår i: International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1754-9507 .- 1754-9515. ; 18:5, s. 429-449
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: Communication partner training is an increasingly common approach to improve the possibilities for people with communication disorders to participate in everyday interaction. So far, though, little is known about what conversation partner characteristics might influence the ability to be a supportive partner in conversation. The current study explored possible associations between the observed skill to support a person with communication difficulties in conversation and the following characteristics of the conversation partner; executive function, inference ability, age, education level and relationship to the person with communication disorder. The impact of the aetiology of the communication difficulties was also explored. Method: Thirty-five dyads participated: 23 people with aphasia along with 18 significant others and five enrolled nurses and 12 people with Parkinson’s disease along with 10 significant others and two enrolled nurses. Result: Only tendencies of associations were found between observed skill to support conversation and executive function for the significant others and inference ability for the enrolled nurses. Conclusion: Although type of activity involved in the conversation may be a key factor, the results indicate that executive function and ability to make mental inferences may matter for the ability to support a person with communication disorder in conversation.
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| 9. |
- Forsgren, Emma, 1982, et al.
(författare)
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Improving medical students’ knowledge and skill in communicating with people with acquired communication disorders
- 2017
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Ingår i: International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1754-9507 .- 1754-9515. ; 19:6, s. 541-550
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: To explore the effects of an interactive workshop on medical students’ knowledge and skill in communicating with people with acquired communication disorders. Method: Sixty-nine medical students received a lecture on acquired communication disorders. Thirty-six of these students also participated in a workshop where they practised using supportive strategies in interaction with a simulated patient with aphasia. All students completed a questionnaire exploring attitudes, confidence in knowledge and ability to suggest suitable supportive strategies pre- and post-lecture/workshop and 15 students were video recorded when interacting with a simulated patient pre- and post-workshop. Result: The results show no change in attitude in either student group, but both groups rated their confidence in knowledge as higher post-lecture/workshop. The students’ ability to suggest supportive strategies post training was significantly higher only in the workshop group. Comparing post training results regarding knowledge and ability to suggest supportive strategies between the groups, higher ratings were found for the workshop group. The analysis of video recordings indicated that the students also used new supportive strategies and used strategies more frequently after the workshop. Conclusion: An interactive workshop can improve medical students’ knowledge and skills in communicating with people with acquired communication disorders.
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| 10. |
- Haake, Magnus, et al.
(författare)
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The slower the better : Does the speaker' speech rate influence children' performance on a language comprehension test?
- 2013
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Ingår i: International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1754-9507 .- 1754-9515. ; 16:2, s. 181-190
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this study was to examine the effects of speech rate on children' performance on a widely used language comprehension test, the Test for Reception of Grammar, version 2 (TROG 2), and to explore how test performance interacts with task difficulty and with the child' working memory capacity. Participants were 102 typically developing Swedish-speaking children randomly assigned to one of the three conditions; the TROG 2 sentences spoken by a speech-language pathologist with slow, normal or fast speech rate. Results showed that the fast speech rate had a negative effect on the TROG 2 scores and that slow rate was more beneficial in general. However, for more difficult tasks the beneficial effect of slow speech was only pronounced for children with better scores on a working memory task. Our interpretation is that slow speech is particularly helpful when children do not yet fully master a task but are just about to grasp it. Our results emphasise the necessity of careful considerations of the role dynamic aspects of examiner' speech might play in test administration and favour digitalised procedures in standardised language comprehension assessment.
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