Group therapy for maintenance of speech in parkinson’s disease following LSVT LOUD: a pilot study

Abstract

This study used a pre-post intervention research design to explore the feasibility and speech, communicative effectiveness, and quality of life outcomes of a group therapy programme (Loud and Proud) for people with Parkinson’s Disease following intensive speech treatment (LSVT LOUD). Four women and eight men diagnosed with PD and hypokinetic dysarthria participated in the research. Ten communication partners of people with PD also participated in the study. Participants were assessed twice on separate days pre- and post-intervention on acoustic measures of voice, perceptual ratings of speech intelligibility, a modified Communicative Effectiveness Index, and the Quality of Communication Life ..