Perceptual Training to Improve Listeners' Ability to Understand Speech Produced by Individuals With Dysarthria

NCT04897711 | Completed Results

• 2 other identifiers: 11110R21DC018867
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 217
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 2

Brief Summary

There exist very few effective treatments that ease the intelligibility burden of dysarthria. Perceptual training offers a promising avenue for improving intelligibility of dysarthric speech by offsetting the communicative burden from the speaker with dysarthria on to their primary communication partners-family, friends, and caregivers. This project, utilizing advanced explanatory models, will permit identification of speaker and listener parameters, and their interactions, that allow perceptual training paradigms to be optimized for intelligibility outcomes in dysarthria rehabilitation. This work addresses this critical gap in clinical practice and sets the stage for extension of dysarthria management to listener-targeted remediation-advancing clinical practice and enhanced communication and quality of life outcomes for this population.

Conditions

Dysarthria; Intelligibility, Speech

Keywords

dysarthria; motor speech disorders; intelligibility; perceptual training

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Pretest Transcription Accuracy

  A percentage words correct (PWC) score is tabulated for each listener at pretest. A higher score reflects greater speaker intelligibility (i.e., understanding).

  All outcomes were collected during a single data collection session, that lasted no more than 90 minutes. Pretest transcription accuracy is assessed at the pretest, immediately before a single session of perceptual training.

• Posttest Transcription Accuracy

  A percentage words correct (PWC) score is tabulated for each listener at posttest. Higher scores reflect greater speaker intelligibility (i.e., understanding).

  All outcomes were collected during a single data collection session, lasting no longer than 90 minutes. Transcription accuracy at posttest was assessed at posttest, immediately after perceptual training.

Study Arms (5)

Perceptual training with a speaker with dysarthria - Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

EXPERIMENTAL

To examine the effect of perceptual training with different speakers with dysarthria, we use a standard three-phase perceptual training protocol involving pretest, training, and posttest phases. Speech samples from a single speaker with dysarthria are utilized for all three phases. In this arm, listener participants were assigned to Speaker 1 (mixed flaccid-spastic dysarthria due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis)

Behavioral: Perceptual Training

Perceptual training with a speaker with dysarthria - Ataxic 1

EXPERIMENTAL

To examine the effect of perceptual training with different speakers with dysarthria, we use a standard three-phase perceptual training protocol involving pretest, training, and posttest phases. Speech samples from a single speaker with dysarthria are utilized for all three phases. In this arm, listener participants were assigned to Speaker 2 (Ataxic dysarthria due to cerebellar degeneration)

Behavioral: Perceptual Training

Perceptual training with a speaker with dysarthria - Parkinson's disease (PD) 1

EXPERIMENTAL

To examine the effect of perceptual training with different speakers with dysarthria, we use a standard three-phase perceptual training protocol involving pretest, training, and posttest phases. Speech samples from a single speaker with dysarthria are utilized for all three phases. In this arm, listener participants were assigned to Speaker 3 (hypokinetic dysarthria due to Parkinson's disease)

Behavioral: Perceptual Training

Perceptual training with a speaker with dysarthria - Ataxic 2

EXPERIMENTAL

To examine the effect of perceptual training with different speakers with dysarthria, we use a standard three-phase perceptual training protocol involving pretest, training, and posttest phases. Speech samples from a single speaker with dysarthria are utilized for all three phases. In this arm, listener participants were assigned to Speaker 4 (Ataxic dysarthria due to cerebellar degeneration)

Behavioral: Perceptual Training

Perceptual training with a speaker with dysarthria - Parkinson's disease (PD) 2

EXPERIMENTAL

To examine the effect of perceptual training with different speakers with dysarthria, we use a standard three-phase perceptual training protocol involving pretest, training, and posttest phases. Speech samples from a single speaker with dysarthria are utilized for all three phases. In this arm, listener participants were assigned to Speaker 5 (hypokinetic dysarthria due to Parkinson's disease)

Behavioral: Perceptual Training

Interventions

Perceptual Training BEHAVIORAL

Each listener is familiarized/trained with a single speaker with dysarthria. Pretest/posttest transcription data will be used to build explanatory models of intelligibility improvement.

Also known as: Familiarization

Perceptual training with a speaker with dysarthria - Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS); Perceptual training with a speaker with dysarthria - Ataxic 1; Perceptual training with a speaker with dysarthria - Ataxic 2; Perceptual training with a speaker with dysarthria - Parkinson's disease (PD) 1; Perceptual training with a speaker with dysarthria - Parkinson's disease (PD) 2

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 80 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• \*Native speakers of American English

You may not qualify if:

• No self-reported history of speech impairment
• No self-reported history of language impairment
• No self-reported history of cognitive impairment

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Utah State University: lead
• National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD): collaborator

Study Sites (2)

Florida State University

Tallahassee, Florida, 32301, United States

Location

Utah State University

Logan, Utah, 84322, United States

Location

Related Publications (11)

• Borrie SA, Lansford KL, Barrett TS. Understanding dysrhythmic speech: When rhythm does not matter and learning does not happen. J Acoust Soc Am. 2018 May;143(5):EL379. doi: 10.1121/1.5037620.

  PMID: 29857710 BACKGROUND

• Lansford KL, Borrie SA, Barrett TS. Regularity Matters: Unpredictable Speech Degradation Inhibits Adaptation to Dysarthric Speech. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2019 Nov 20;62(12):4282-4290. doi: 10.1044/2019_JSLHR-19-00055. Print 2019 Dec 18.

  PMID: 31747531 BACKGROUND

• Borrie SA, Lansford KL, Barrett TS. Rhythm Perception and Its Role in Perception and Learning of Dysrhythmic Speech. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2017 Mar 1;60(3):561-570. doi: 10.1044/2016_JSLHR-S-16-0094.

  PMID: 28241307 BACKGROUND

• Lansford KL, Borrie SA, Bystricky L. Use of Crowdsourcing to Assess the Ecological Validity of Perceptual-Training Paradigms in Dysarthria. Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2016 May 1;25(2):233-9. doi: 10.1044/2015_AJSLP-15-0059.

  PMID: 27145295 BACKGROUND

• Borrie SA, McAuliffe MJ, Liss JM, Kirk C, O'Beirne GA, Anderson T. Familiarisation conditions and the mechanisms that underlie improved recognition of dysarthric speech. Lang Cogn Process. 2012 Sep 1;27(7-8):1039-1055. doi: 10.1080/01690965.2011.610596.

  PMID: 24009401 BACKGROUND

• Borrie SA, Lansford KL, Barrett TS. Generalized Adaptation to Dysarthric Speech. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2017 Nov 9;60(11):3110-3117. doi: 10.1044/2017_JSLHR-S-17-0127.

  PMID: 29075754 BACKGROUND

• Lansford KL, Luhrsen S, Ingvalson EM, Borrie SA. Effects of Familiarization on Intelligibility of Dysarthric Speech in Older Adults With and Without Hearing Loss. Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2018 Feb 6;27(1):91-98. doi: 10.1044/2017_AJSLP-17-0090.

  PMID: 29305612 BACKGROUND

• Hirsch ME, Lansford KL, Barrett TS, Borrie SA. Generalized Learning of Dysarthric Speech Between Male and Female Talkers. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2021 Feb 17;64(2):444-451. doi: 10.1044/2020_JSLHR-20-00313. Epub 2021 Jan 28.

  PMID: 33508210 BACKGROUND

• Lansford KL, Borrie SA, Barrett TS, Flechaus C. When Additional Training Isn't Enough: Further Evidence That Unpredictable Speech Inhibits Adaptation. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2020 Jun 22;63(6):1700-1711. doi: 10.1044/2020_JSLHR-19-00380. Epub 2020 May 20.

  PMID: 32437259 BACKGROUND

• Borrie SA, Lansford KL, Barrett TS. A Clinical Advantage: Experience Informs Recognition and Adaptation to a Novel Talker With Dysarthria. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2021 May 11;64(5):1503-1514. doi: 10.1044/2021_JSLHR-20-00663. Epub 2021 Apr 8.

  PMID: 33831307 BACKGROUND

• Borrie SA, Barrett TS, Yoho SE. Autoscore: An open-source automated tool for scoring listener perception of speech. J Acoust Soc Am. 2019 Jan;145(1):392. doi: 10.1121/1.5087276.

  PMID: 30710955 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Dysarthria; Speech Intelligibility

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Articulation Disorders; Speech Disorders; Language Disorders; Communication Disorders; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Speech; Verbal Behavior; Communication; Behavior

Limitations and Caveats

While classified as a clinical trial, the aims of this study were to build explanatory models of perceptual learning of dysarthric speech. All participants received perceptual training with one of 5 speakers with dysarthria. The focus of this work was not to establish the efficacy of perceptual training but rather to identify individual listener variables that support perceptual learning. As such, all models were built on individual participant data.

Results Point of Contact

• Title: Stephanie Borrie
• Organization: Utah State University

stephanie.borrie@usu.edu

435-797-1388

Study Officials

• Stephanie A Borrie, PhD

  Utah State University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Kaitlin L Lansford, PhD

  Florida State University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Publication Agreements

• PI is Sponsor Employee: No
• Restrictive Agreement: No

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: 300 listeners will be recruited and enrolled. Each participant will be randomly assigned to receive perceptual training with one of 5 speakers with dysarthria, such that 30-50 listeners will be assigned to each speaker with dysarthria. All listener participants will receive the perceptual training intervention.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 10, 2021
• First Posted: May 21, 2021
• Study Start: April 26, 2021
• Primary Completion: July 1, 2023
• Study Completion: July 1, 2023
• Last Updated: September 19, 2024
• Results First Posted: September 19, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: Within one year of completion
• Access Criteria: Information related to the protocol and statistical analysis plan will be shared in future publications. The analytic code will be shared via the Open Science website, with the link included in associated publications.

Locations

US (2)