On the Relationship between Speech Intelligibility and Fluency Indicators among English-Speaking Individuals with Parkinson’s Diseases

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to investigate how much of variance in Parkinson’s Disease (PD) individuals’ speech intelligibility could be predicted by seven speech fluency indicators (i.e., repetition, omission, distortion, correction, unfilled pauses, filled pauses, and speaking rate). Speech data were retrieved from a database containing a reading task produced by a group of 16 English-speaking individuals with PD (Jaeger, Trivedi & Stadtchnitzer, 2019). The results from a multiple regression indicated that an addition of 54% of variance in the speech intelligibility scores among individuals with PD could be accounted for after the speakers’ PD severity level measured based on Hoehn and Yahr’s (1967) disease stage was included as a covariate. In addition, omission and correction were the two fluency indicators that contributed to the general intelligibility score in a statistically significant way. Specifically, for every one-unit gain in the number of correction and omission, speech intelligibility scores would decline by 0.687 and 0.131 point (out of a 7-point scale), respectively. The current study hence supported Magee, Copland, and Vogel’s (2019) view that the language production abilities and quantified dysarthria measures among individuals with PD should be explored together. Additionally, the clinical implications based on the current findings were discussed.