Speech timing and monosyllabic diadochokinesis measures in the assessment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Canadian French

Abstract

Purpose

The primary objective of this study was to determine if speech and pause measures obtained using a passage reading task and timing measures from a monosyllabic diadochokinesis (DDK) task differ across speakers of Canadian French diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) presenting with and without bulbar symptoms, and healthy controls. The secondary objective was to determine if these measures can reflect the severity of bulbar symptoms.

Method

A total of 29 Canadian French speakers with ALS (classified as bulbar symptomatic [n = 14] or pre-symptomatic [n = 15]) and 17 age-matched healthy controls completed a passage reading task and a monosyllabic DDK task (/pa/ and /ta/), for up to three follow-up visits. Measures of speaking rate, total duration, speech duration, and pause events were extracted from the passage reading recordings using a semi-automated speech and pause analysis procedure. Manual analysis of DDK recordings provided measures of DDK rate and variability.

Result

Group comparisons revealed significant differences (p = < .05) between the symptomatic group and the pre-symptomatic and control groups for all passage measures and DDK rates. Only the DDK rate in /ta/ differentiated the pre-symptomatic and control groups. Repeated measures correlations revealed moderate correlations (r_rm = > 0.40; p = < 0.05) between passage measures of total duration, speaking rate, speech duration, and number of pauses, and ALSFRS-R total and bulbar scores, as well as between DDK rate and ALSFRS-R total score.

Conclusion

Speech and pause measures in passage and timing measures in monosyllabic DDK tasks might be suitable for monitoring bulbar functional symptoms in French speakers with ALS, but more work is required to identify which measures are sensitive to the earliest stages of the disease.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• bulbar ALS
• motor speech disorders
• speech analysis
• dysarthria
• amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
• French speakers

Acknowledgments

We would like to extend our appreciation to the research participants.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The funding for this work was provided by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), ALS Canada, and Brain Canada for the Canadian ALS Neuroimaging Consortium (CALSNIC) national research platform (calsnic.org), as well as the National Institutes of Health (NIH NIDCD R01DC017291) for the first author’s position.