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Effects of Intensive Voice Treatment (the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment [LSVT]) on Vowel Articulation in Dysarthric Individuals With Idiopathic Parkinson Disease: Acoustic and Perceptual Findings

Jennifer L. Spielman
National Center for Voice and Speech, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Colorado

Lorraine O. Ramig
University of Colorado, Boulder, and National Center for Voice and Speech, Denver Center for the Performing Arts

Brad H. Story
University of Arizona, Tucson

Cynthia Fox
National Center for Voice and Speech, Denver Center for the Performing Arts

Contact author: Shimon Sapir, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa 39105, Israel. E-mail: sapir{at}research.haifa.ac.il.

Purpose: To evaluate the effects of intensive voice treatment targeting vocal loudness (the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment [LSVT]) on vowel articulation in dysarthric individuals with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD).

Method: A group of individuals with PD receiving LSVT (n = 14) was compared to a group of individuals with PD not receiving LSVT (n = 15) and a group of age-matched healthy individuals (n = 14) on the variables vocal sound pressure level (VocSPL); various measures of the first (F1) and second (F2) formants of the vowels /i/, /u/, and /a/; vowel triangle area; and perceptual vowel ratings. The vowels were extracted from the words key, stew, and Bobby embedded in phrases. Perceptual vowel rating was performed by trained raters using a visual analog scale.

Results: Only VocSPL, F2 of the vowel /u/ (F2u), and the ratio F2i/F2u significantly differed between patients and healthy individuals pretreatment. These variables, along with perceptual vowel ratings, significantly changed (improved) in the group receiving LSVT only.

Conclusion: These results, along with previous findings, add further support to the generalized therapeutic impact of intensive voice treatment on orofacial functions (speech, swallowing, facial expression) and respiratory and laryngeal functions in individuals with PD.

KEY WORDS: Parkinson's disease, voice treatment, articulatory acoustics, vowels

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