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Effect of overarticulation technique in voice and speech of individuals with Parkinson's disease with deep brain stimulation

ABSTRACT

Purpose

To verify the immediate and after 15 minutes effect of the overarticulation technique in individuals with Parkinson's disease, submitted to deep brain stimulation in subthalamic nucleus, in the voice, speech and facial movements.

Methods

This study counted with 29 patients with the diagnosis of Parkinson Disease who were undergoing pharmacotherapy and were submitted to deep brain stimulation in the subthalamic nucleus, with and without prior speech therapy. Speech and voice samples were recorded in an audio and video file at three different moments: pre-intervention, immediate post intervention and 15 minutes post intervention. The intervention was the individual performance of 5 minutes exercise consisting of sequence of overarticulation techniques. The audio and video recordings were submitted to the perceptual-judgement of the voice quality and facial movements.

Results

The technique produced positive results in 69% of the cases after 15 minutes of its application when compared to the other moments. Articulation was the parameter that most contributed in the perceptual-judgment of the best voice quality (69%); it was significantly higher than the other parameters, except speech rate. After 15 minutes of the technique, 58.6% of the patients had improvement in the facial movements, according to the perceptual-judgment which was also significantly better when compared to other moments. The parameter with greater provement was movement of the mouth, eyebrows and eyes.

Conclusion

The overarticulation technique produces an immediate positive effect on vocal aspects and greater facial expressiveness, especially after 15 minutes.

Keywords:
Deep brain stimulation; Parkinson disease; Hypokinetic dysarthria; Voice; Speech

RESUMO

Objetivo

Verificar o efeito imediato e após 15 minutos da técnica de sobrearticulação de fala em indivíduos com doença de Parkinson, submetidos à estimulação cerebral profunda em núcleo subtalâmico, nos parâmetros de voz, fala e mímica facial.

Métodos

Participaram 29 sujeitos com diagnóstico médico de doença de Parkinson, sob tratamento medicamentoso e submetidos à estimulação cerebral profunda em núcleo subtalâmico, com e sem reabilitação fonoaudiológica prévia. Realizou-se gravação em áudio e vídeo de amostra de fala e voz em três momentos: pré-intervenção, pós-imediato e após 15 minutos da realização individual de cinco minutos de uma sequência de exercícios de sobrearticulação de fala. As gravações foram submetidas à avaliação perceptivo-auditiva da voz e perceptivo-visual da mímica facial.

Resultados

A técnica produziu resultados positivos em 69% dos casos, após 15 minutos de aplicação, em relação aos demais momentos. O parâmetro que mais contribuiu para a identificação da melhor emissão na avaliação perceptivo-auditiva foi articulação (69%), significativamente maior que os demais parâmetros, exceto velocidade de fala. A análise perceptivo-visual mostrou melhora em 58,6% dos casos após 15 minutos, também significativamente melhor que os demais momentos. O parâmetro em que se observou maior proporção de melhora foi na movimentação de boca, sobrancelhas e olhos.

Conclusão

A técnica de sobrearticulação de fala produz efeito positivo imediato nos aspectos vocais e uma maior expressividade facial, principalmente após 15 minutos de realização.

Palavras-chave:
Estimulação cerebral profunda; Doença de Parkinson; Disartria hipocinética; Voz; Fala

INTRODUCTION

The Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease, of unknown a etiology, that results from the death of dopamine producing neurons in the substantia nigra of the mesencephalon; important neurotransmitter responsible for the motor control(11 Sousa BRM, Gama ACC, Bistene PM, Cardoso F, Bassi IB. Diadococinesia labial em indivíduos adultos portadores e não portadores de Doença de Parkinson Idiopática. Distúrb Comun. 2012;24(1):21-7.). The loss of the substantia nigra impacts the central control of movement(22 Mangilli LD, Amoroso MRM, Nishimoto IN, Barros APB, Carrara-de-Angelis E. Voz, deglutição e qualidade de vida de pacientes com alterações de mobilidade de prega vocal unilateral pré e pós-fonoterapia. Rev Soc Bras Fonoaudiol. 2008;13(2):103-12. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1516-80342008000200003.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1516-80342008...
) and significantly generates changes in voice and speech(33 Azevedo LL, Cardoso F, Reis C. Análise acústica da prosódia em mulheres com doença de Parkinson: comparação com controles normais. Arq Neuropsiquiatr. 2003;61(4):999-1003. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0004-282X2003000600021. PMid:14762606.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0004-282X2003...
).

For the majority of patients, the PD begins after their 55th birthday, the disease prevalence increases when the patient has more than 70 years old. Currently, the PD incidence in the Brazilian population is 150 to 200 patients per 100,000 inhabitants, in other words, there is one PD patient for each 1,000 inhabitants(44 Limongi JCP. Doença de Parkinson: aspectos clínicos. Revista Fono Atual. 1997;1(2):9-11.).

The PD is a clinical diagnosis; it is based on primary symptoms, which can be isolated or combined: rest tremor, stiffness, bradykinesia and loss of postural reflex. It is estimated that, at the time of the diagnosis, the individual has already lost over 50% of the gray matter, which reinforces the importance of an early diagnosis(44 Limongi JCP. Doença de Parkinson: aspectos clínicos. Revista Fono Atual. 1997;1(2):9-11.).

In addition to the first symptoms, the PD patient may present speech and voice symptoms, known as hypokinetic dysarthria. These symptoms impair the communication; this condition is known as motor speech disorders. There are some cases that the speech and voice symptoms are identified even before the medical diagnosis of PD. These symptoms are usually: imprecise consonant articulation; monopitch, slurred speech, weak voice with monoloudness, presence of asthenia, breathiness, roughness and hypernasal resonance(55 Behlau M, Madazio G, Azevedo R, Brasil O, Vilanova LC. Disfonias neurológicas. In: Belahau M, editor. Voz: o livro do especialista. 2a ed. Rio de Janeiro: Revinter; 2005. p. 111-86.).

These characteristic vocal symptoms of PD, are due to the reduced vocal fold mobility, large mucosal wave, spindle-shaped glottic chink, arytenoid tremor and anteroposterior and medial constriction(55 Behlau M, Madazio G, Azevedo R, Brasil O, Vilanova LC. Disfonias neurológicas. In: Belahau M, editor. Voz: o livro do especialista. 2a ed. Rio de Janeiro: Revinter; 2005. p. 111-86.). These manifestations are developed during the course of the disease(66 Hammer MJ, Barlow MS, Lyons EK, Pahwa R. Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation changes speech respiratory and laryngeal control in Parkinson’s disease. J Neurol. 2010;257(10):1692-702. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00415-010-5605-5. PMid:20582431.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00415-010-560...
), which increases the intensity of the symptoms and may lead to dysphagia(55 Behlau M, Madazio G, Azevedo R, Brasil O, Vilanova LC. Disfonias neurológicas. In: Belahau M, editor. Voz: o livro do especialista. 2a ed. Rio de Janeiro: Revinter; 2005. p. 111-86.).

Speech therapy for voice and swallowing problems in patients with PD is generally associated with pharmacological treatment, based on levodopa, which is the endogenous dopamine precursor(77 Jankovic J, Marsden CD. Therapeutic strategies in Parkinson’s disease. In: Jankovic J, Tolosa E, editors. Parkinson’s disease and movement disorders. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins; 1998. p. 191-220.). Both improve all the altered motor parameters in the disease(88 Azevedo LL. Expressão da atitude através da prosódia em indivíduos com doença de Parkinson idiopática. Rev Soc Bras Fonoaudiol. 2009;14(2):291. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1516-80342009000200025.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1516-80342009...
). It is known that combined methods my better assist the communication rehabilitation, like the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT) associated with other techniques such as speech overarticulation(55 Behlau M, Madazio G, Azevedo R, Brasil O, Vilanova LC. Disfonias neurológicas. In: Belahau M, editor. Voz: o livro do especialista. 2a ed. Rio de Janeiro: Revinter; 2005. p. 111-86.,99 Spielman J, Mahler L, Halpern A, Gilley P, Klepitskaya O, Ramig L. Intensive voice treatment (LSVT®LOUD) for Parkinson’s disease following deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus. J Commun Disord. 2011;44(6):688-700. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2011.05.003. PMid:21724193.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2011...
).

In the last two decades, Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) has been studied as a complementary surgical alternative for the reduction of motor symptoms. It consists of an electrical device implanted in the thalamus, subthalamic nucleus (STN), Globus pallidus (GPi) or in the ventral internal nucleus (VIN). This type of treatment must be chosen in accordance to the neurologist clinical evaluation(77 Jankovic J, Marsden CD. Therapeutic strategies in Parkinson’s disease. In: Jankovic J, Tolosa E, editors. Parkinson’s disease and movement disorders. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins; 1998. p. 191-220.,1010 Tripoliti E, Zrinzo L, Martinez-Torres I, Frost E, Pinto S, Foltynie T, et al. Effects of subthalamic stimulation on speech of consecutive patients with Parkinson diseases. Neurology. 2011;76(1):80-6. http://dx.doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0b013e318203e7d0. PMid:21068426.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0b013e3182...
). Improvement in all motor symptoms was observed after the DBS, except for speech and swallowing(66 Hammer MJ, Barlow MS, Lyons EK, Pahwa R. Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation changes speech respiratory and laryngeal control in Parkinson’s disease. J Neurol. 2010;257(10):1692-702. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00415-010-5605-5. PMid:20582431.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00415-010-560...
,1111 Jones HN, Kendall DL, Okun MS, Wu SS, Velozo C, Fernandez HH, et al. Speech motor program maintenance, but now switching, is enhanced by left-hemispheric deep brain stimulation in Parkinson’s disease. Int J Speech Lang Pathol. 2010;12(5):385-98. http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/17549507.2010.491870. PMid:20586527.
http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/17549507.2010....
). The voice and speech function observed after the DBS implant were: strain voice with low loudness, including laryngeal, respiratory and articulatory alterations. Taking this into account, the LSVT Method is not the best treatment, since it is more adequate for laryngeal hypofunction. Therefore, more focused approaches addressing these symptoms may give more consistent results.

Considering that speech gets worse after the DBS, to perform articulatory exercises may improve the oral communication.

Therefore, the aim of this study was to verify the immediate and after 15 minutes effect of overarticulation technique in individuals with PD submitted to deep brain stimulation of subthalamic nucleus (DBS-STN), in voice, speech and facial movements parameters.

METHODS

This is a prospective research approved by the Committee for Ethics in Research of the Universidade de Taubaté, under the protocol number 1.365.411. The research counted with 29 individuals with medical diagnosis of Parkinson Disease, men and women, that were submitted to DBS-STN and that seeked for speech-language pathologist evaluation at a Parkinson Disease association in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. All patients agreed to participate and signed an informed consent form.

The inclusion criteria were: medical diagnosis of PD, with at least five years from the beginning of symptoms, submitted to DBS-STN; presence of communication problems; stable medication use, in order to avoid unstable symptoms in voice and speech performance; speak Brazilian Portuguese; have no history of other neurological or psychiatric diseases. The patient was not excluded due to previous speech therapy once this study focused on the immediate effect of the intervention. In addition, prior therapy focusing on speech and voice symptoms, previously to the DBS, does not guarantee absence of signs and symptoms regarding speech and voice post deep brain stimulation.

The exclusion criteria were: medical diagnosis of PD submitted to DBS-STN in patients with loss of teeth or maladaptation of dental prosthesis; presence of auditory complaints; alteration in the temporomandibular joint; upper airway infections and / or nose and throat allergy at the recording moment; other communication problems or language alterations; depression and cognitive alterations.

Videos recordings of the patients were made using an Ipad Air, model A1474 16gb 4g by Apple. The recordings were performed in a quiet room. The patients were instructed to say the months of the year and to count the numbers from one to 20. The recordings were done in three different moments: pre-intervention, immediate post intervention and 15 minutes post intervention. The intervention consisted of overarticulation exercises, from the “Speech Method”(55 Behlau M, Madazio G, Azevedo R, Brasil O, Vilanova LC. Disfonias neurológicas. In: Belahau M, editor. Voz: o livro do especialista. 2a ed. Rio de Janeiro: Revinter; 2005. p. 111-86.). The steps in the data collection were as follows: pre-intervention recording; five minutes of exercise; immediate post-intervention recording; 15 minutes interval; 15 minutes post intervention recording. The sequence of exercises was performed individually, it lasted five minutes and it was applied by the same therapist, who also gave the instructions, examples and feedbacks so that the patient would perform the exercises correctly. The sequence of exercises was as follows: 1 - five repetitions of the vowels “a”, “e”, “i”, “o”, “u”, with an exaggerated articulation and regular speech rate: 2 - count the numbers from one to 20 with an exaggerated articulation and regular speech rate; 3 - say the days of the week, with an exaggerated mouth opening; 4 - repeat once the sequence: PA TA KA/ BA DA GA/ MA NA NHA/ FA SA CHA/ VA ZA JA/ LA RA RA with an exaggerated articulation, regular speech rate using visual feedback.

During the recordings, the patients were seated at the same place with trunk and neck in erect position and looking to the Ipad camera, that was positioned on sufficient distance to frame the patient's face.

The collected video and audio samples were edited and randomized. Two voice specialists perceptually-judged these samples regarding the voice quality and facial movements; there was 40% of repetition to assess the intra-rater reliability. Three videos of the same patient were randomly presented to the evaluators in order Perceptual-auditory judgement protocol to assess voice and speech of the Parkinsonians/Protocol for the perceptual-auditory judgement of voice and speech for the Parkinson Disease Patient for them to perform the analysis; the videos were from the pre-intervention, the immediate post intervention and 15 minutes post intervention moments. The was used for voice and speech evaluations. Considering the three videos of each patient, the raters had to indicate which sample they considered the best or indicate that there was no difference; if one of the videos was considered to be the best they had to justify their choice. For these cases, the best parameter had to be indicated. Following are the definition of each parameter:

Voice quality: the voice quality must be neutral; thus, no deviation should be observed such as: hoarseness, low pitch, high pitch or monotone.

Resonance: the resonance must be adequate, without compensation of any other vocal tract structure; without low, nasal or oral resonances.

Pitch: should be in accordance with the speaker gender and age. This parameter is related to the speech intention, that is, with the intention of the message the speaker wishes to share. It can be classified as low, normal, i.e., typical, or high.

Loudness: should be related to the speech topic. It is important to observe if it is normal voice, loud or quiet voice.

Vocal projection: it is the outcome of an emission with adequate volume, loudness and pitch.

Speech rate: it is closely related to the articulation of speech sounds. When the speech rate is fast, the speech sounds will not be very well defined. On the other hand, extremely slow speech rate is monotonous, thus, the listener will not pay much attention. Therefore, the speech rate should be in accordance with the spoken topic, not too fast and not too slow.

For the visual perceptual-judgment of facial movements, the evaluators randomly watched three videos of the same patient, in the pre-intervention, immediate post intervention and 15 minutes post intervention moments. To evaluate the facial movements, eyebrows, eyes and mouth movements were observed(1212 Dietz J, Noecker AM, McIntyre CC, Mikos A, Bowers D, Foote KD, et al. Stimulation region within the globus pallidus does not affect verbal fluency performance. Brain Stimul. 2013;6(3):248-53. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.brs.2012.05.011. PMid:22766102.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.brs.2012.05....
). The non-verbal information is mainly shown by the facial expression and it reveals emotional states; it includes eye contact, eyebrow movements and facial movement, that will change according to the speaker intention and emotion behind the spoken message. The evaluators watched the videos of the three recording moments and selected the best one and indicated if there was more movement in the upper or inferior third of the face or even in both.

The data from the perceptual-judgement of the voice quality and facial movements were submitted to statistical analysis. All analyses were performed with the software SPSS 17.0 and Minitab 16.0. The significance level was set at 10%. The Kappa coefficient was used to analyze the intra and inter-rater reliability. Only substantial or almost perfect (0.610 to 0.800, substantial; above 0.810, almost perfect) Kappa values were considered. Also, the equality of two proportions test was used to compare the sample that was considered the best by each evaluator and by both evaluators together, considering the judgement of the voice quality and facial movements.

RESULTS

Regarding the perceptual-judgment of the voice quality, the best moment for most patients was at 15 minutes post intervention (n=20; 69%), with no difference in the other moments (pre-intervention - p<0.001, immediate post intervention - p <0.001). The parameters that contributed the most to the identification of the best voice emission were: articulation of speech sounds (n=20, 69%), speech rate (n=15, 51.7%), loudness (n=9; 31%), vocal projection (n=7, 24.1%) and resonance (n=6, 20.7%). The parameter of articulation of speech sounds was statistically different from the other parameters, except speech rate (Table 1 and Table 2).

Table 1
Distribution of the best emission in the three moments for perceptual-judgement of voice
Table 2
Distribution of the best parameters in the perceptual-judgement of voice

Regarding the perceptual-judgment of facial movements, the best moment also was at 15 minutes post intervention (n=17, 58.6%); this parameter was significantly higher when compared to the other moments (pre-intervention - p <0.001, immediate post intervention - p <0.001). It was observed more movement of the mouth, eyebrows and eyes (n=14; 48.30%), followed by eyebrows and eyes (n=8, 27.6%) and mouth alone (n=7; 24.1%). A greater improvement was noticed in the movement of the mouth, eyebrows and eyes than for mouth alone (p=0.012) or eyebrows and eyes (p=0.034) (Table 3 and Table 4).

Table 3
Distribution of the best emission in the three moments for perceptual-judgement of facial movements
Table 4
Distribution of the best parameters in the perceptual-judgement of facial movements

The answers of both evaluators were considered once the intra-rater reliability values, for both perceptual judgments, was different; the evaluator 2 had moderate kappa, 0.49. The inter-rater reliability agreement was almost perfect for the perceptual judgement of the voice quality, the highest value was 1.000; there was no agreement on the perceptual-judgment of facial movements, 0.094.

DISCUSSION

The PD, beside involving changes, such as tremor, muscle stiffness, slow movement and posture alteration, can also affect communication, which happens in 89% of the cases(44 Limongi JCP. Doença de Parkinson: aspectos clínicos. Revista Fono Atual. 1997;1(2):9-11.,55 Behlau M, Madazio G, Azevedo R, Brasil O, Vilanova LC. Disfonias neurológicas. In: Belahau M, editor. Voz: o livro do especialista. 2a ed. Rio de Janeiro: Revinter; 2005. p. 111-86.). The oral communication changes in patients with PD are mainly due to nervous degeneration, which blocks neuromuscular transmission and generates difficulties to quickly and easily begin, maintain and execute motor activities, that are essential to guarantee good and intelligible voice and speech functions(1313 Kyrillos L, Cotes C, Feijó D. Voz e corpo na TV: a fonoaudiologia a serviço da comunicação. São Paulo: Globo; 2003.

14 Fox C, Halpern A, Petska J, Spielman J, Will L, Ramig L. Voice treatment (LSVT) for individuals with Parkinson disease: new horizons. Perspectives on Voice and Voice Disorders. 2005;15(2):9-15. http://dx.doi.org/10.1044/vvd15.2.9.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1044/vvd15.2.9...

15 Behlau M, Harada K. Atendimento fonoaudiológico ao paciente com doença de Parkinson. In: Ferreira L, editor. Trabalhando a voz: vários enfoques em fonoaudiologia. São Paulo: Summus Editorial; 1998. p. 114-20.
-1616 Vitorino M, Homem F. Doença de Parkinson: da fonação à articulação. Fono Atual. 2001;17(3):35-9.). Thus, articulation is the most compromised aspect in oral communication(1717 Dias AE, Limongi JCP. Novidades na aplicação do método Lee Silverman de tratamento vocal (LSVT) na doença de parkinson. Fono Atual. 2002;5(21):64-5.) affecting from 67%(1818 Gallena S, Smith PJ, Zeffiro T, Ludlow CL. Effects of levodopa on laryngeal muscle activity for voice onset and offset in Parkinson disease. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2001;44(6):1284-99. http://dx.doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2001/100). PMid:11776365.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2001...
) up to 80% of the PD patients(1919 Bastos D, Oliveira L. Atuação fonoaudiológica junto a pacientes parkinsonianos em atendimento ambulatorial na cidade de Belém/PA [monografia]. Belém: Universidade de Amazônia; 2003.). The main alteration is articulatory inaccuracy, that can be altered due to different reasons, such as lack of adequate vocal tract narrowing in the production of the phonemes, or due to decreased movement of the articulatory muscles; this decreased movement can be caused by deficits in the coordination of agonist and antagonist muscles, or by limited vertical opening of the mouth due to the stiffness of the jaw lift, masseter and temporal muscles. In patients without DBS, it seems that speech therapy that aims to improve phonatory task(99 Spielman J, Mahler L, Halpern A, Gilley P, Klepitskaya O, Ramig L. Intensive voice treatment (LSVT®LOUD) for Parkinson’s disease following deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus. J Commun Disord. 2011;44(6):688-700. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2011.05.003. PMid:21724193.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2011...
), indirectly, provides better articulation of speech sounds. However, this approach is not recommended in cases post DBS, were one of the vocal characteristics is laryngeal hyperfunction.

The changes that affects the PD patient communication can negatively influence their self-esteem, safety and quality of life. Treatments that aim to reduce these symptoms and improve the quality of life are available; usually they are based in pharmacotherapy, psychotherapy and surgery. One recent treatment strategy for PD patients is the DBS; it has shown satisfactory outcomes regarding the cardinal motor symptoms. However, the oral communication impacts are reserved, there are negative impacts on the speech intelligibility, that includes worse voice quality (asthenia and breathiness) and that negatively impacts vocal loudness and pitch(2020 Carrara-de-Angelis E. Doença de Parkinson: efetividade da fonoterapia comunicação oral e na deglutição [dissertação]. São Paulo: Universidade Federal de São Paulo; 1995.). Also, the DBS in PD patients was frequently observed to increase respiratory driving pressure and to increase vocal fold closure; less frequently, to impact voice and speech(66 Hammer MJ, Barlow MS, Lyons EK, Pahwa R. Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation changes speech respiratory and laryngeal control in Parkinson’s disease. J Neurol. 2010;257(10):1692-702. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00415-010-5605-5. PMid:20582431.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00415-010-560...
), and to be less beneficial for speech-related respiratory control resulting in worse intelligibility(1111 Jones HN, Kendall DL, Okun MS, Wu SS, Velozo C, Fernandez HH, et al. Speech motor program maintenance, but now switching, is enhanced by left-hemispheric deep brain stimulation in Parkinson’s disease. Int J Speech Lang Pathol. 2010;12(5):385-98. http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/17549507.2010.491870. PMid:20586527.
http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/17549507.2010....
). Therefore, it can be observed that, after DBS, some patients may have little negative impact while others may have big impact, i.e, bad communication pattern(66 Hammer MJ, Barlow MS, Lyons EK, Pahwa R. Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation changes speech respiratory and laryngeal control in Parkinson’s disease. J Neurol. 2010;257(10):1692-702. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00415-010-5605-5. PMid:20582431.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00415-010-560...
). This states for the need of proper speech therapy for DBS patients considering that the therapy may guarantee better functionality and speech intelligibility(2121 Tripoliti E, Zrinzo L, Martinez-Torres I, Tisch S, Frost E, Borrell E, et al. Effects of contact location and voltage amplitude on speech and movement in bilateral subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation. Mov Disord. 2008;23(16):2377-83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mds.22296. PMid:18785648.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mds.22296...
).

Many techniques are used to reduce the PD symptoms, such as the overarticulation technique; that was the focus of the present study due to high reports in the literature of its benefits in articulation. This technique belongs to the “Speech Method”(55 Behlau M, Madazio G, Azevedo R, Brasil O, Vilanova LC. Disfonias neurológicas. In: Belahau M, editor. Voz: o livro do especialista. 2a ed. Rio de Janeiro: Revinter; 2005. p. 111-86.); its performance is based on the exaggerated articulation of speech sounds by making large vertical opening of the mouth. To guarantee the exercise high precision, the patient must pay attention to each sound that is being said, however, he must not increase the tonus of the larynx. This exercise mainly addresses to the vocal tract; indirectly it addresses to the voice quality, once it also changes voice characteristics(2222 Knopp D, Padovani M. Voz, fala e deglutição. In: Limongi JCP, editor. Conhecendo melhor a doença de Parkinson: uma abordagem multidisciplinar com orientações práticas para dia-a-dia. São Paulo: Plexus; 2001. p. 117-35.). The overarticulation technique aims to reduce laryngeal hypertonicity, increase vocal volume and loudness: increase vocal resistance and slow speech rate(2323 Colton R. Physicology of phonation. New York: Thieme; 1994.). Thus, the present study aimed to verify the immediate and after 15 minutes effect of overarticulation technique in individuals with PD.

Two voice specialists were asked to indicate the best sample out of three samples or to indicate that there was no difference. Next, they had to justify their choice. To identify the best emission the raters performed the perceptual-judgement of the voice quality and facial movements in each moment, i.e., pre-intervention, immediate post intervention and 15 minutes post intervention. The best emissions were identified at 15 minutes post intervention, both considering the perceptual-judgement of voice quality and facial movements.

The outcomes showed that the use of an exercise sequence that included overarticulation technique can improve communication and that this improvement is still present for at least 15 minutes. Data from the literature shows that the effects on the speech(2424 Avagyan AV, Mkrtchyan HH, Petrosyan TR. Speech rehabilitation in Parkinsons disease. International Journal of Neurology Research. 2015;1(3):158-62. http://dx.doi.org/10.17554/j.issn.2313-5611.2015.01.28.
http://dx.doi.org/10.17554/j.issn.2313-5...
) of PD patients with DBS are particular; some patients get worse while others do not. However, in most cases the treatment does not change the speech pattern(2525 Pützer M, Barry WJ, Moringlane JR. Effect of bilateral stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus on different speech subsystems in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Clin Linguist Phon. 2008;22(12):957-73. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02699200802394823. PMid:19031193.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02699200802394...
), like other pharmacological treatments(2424 Avagyan AV, Mkrtchyan HH, Petrosyan TR. Speech rehabilitation in Parkinsons disease. International Journal of Neurology Research. 2015;1(3):158-62. http://dx.doi.org/10.17554/j.issn.2313-5611.2015.01.28.
http://dx.doi.org/10.17554/j.issn.2313-5...
).

Regarding the rehabilitation using vocal exercises, the LSVT is the treatment most common and used worldwide, despite the stage of the PD(2424 Avagyan AV, Mkrtchyan HH, Petrosyan TR. Speech rehabilitation in Parkinsons disease. International Journal of Neurology Research. 2015;1(3):158-62. http://dx.doi.org/10.17554/j.issn.2313-5611.2015.01.28.
http://dx.doi.org/10.17554/j.issn.2313-5...
). Although with different exercises and different duration of the intervention, the vocal training in the LSVT is intense, with daily session that happens during one month, the maintenance of the results after the LSVT intervention has been proven(99 Spielman J, Mahler L, Halpern A, Gilley P, Klepitskaya O, Ramig L. Intensive voice treatment (LSVT®LOUD) for Parkinson’s disease following deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus. J Commun Disord. 2011;44(6):688-700. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2011.05.003. PMid:21724193.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2011...
) and it can be maintained for at least two to three years(2424 Avagyan AV, Mkrtchyan HH, Petrosyan TR. Speech rehabilitation in Parkinsons disease. International Journal of Neurology Research. 2015;1(3):158-62. http://dx.doi.org/10.17554/j.issn.2313-5611.2015.01.28.
http://dx.doi.org/10.17554/j.issn.2313-5...
). However, no studies that analyzed the effects of vocal techniques for patients with PD treated with DB were found, once the DBS is considered to be a treatment(2424 Avagyan AV, Mkrtchyan HH, Petrosyan TR. Speech rehabilitation in Parkinsons disease. International Journal of Neurology Research. 2015;1(3):158-62. http://dx.doi.org/10.17554/j.issn.2313-5611.2015.01.28.
http://dx.doi.org/10.17554/j.issn.2313-5...
).

The parameters that most contributed to identify the best emission, considering the perceptual-judgement of the voice quality, were articulation of speech sounds, speech rate and loudness. These parameters are directly influenced by the technique; their improvement shows that the technique was effective. The articulation of speech sounds improved more often when compared to the other parameters, except speech rate. The better outcome in this parameter might have been due to the exercise execution, related to the speech and voice motor gesture of the selected tasks. The improvement in speech rate, that is, the improvement of this parameter, when compared to the other two, without considering it to be faster or slower, may be related to its close relation to the articulation of speech sounds; when not so fast it favors the precision of all sounds in each word, when not so slow it keeps the listener's attention. On the other hand, loudness may have improved due to greater vertical opening of the mouth, which favors vocal projection, related to louder vocal loudness.

Other studies regarding speech therapy in patients with PD that focused on phonation, not articulation, observed improvements in glottal efficiency(2626 Behlau M, Madazio G, Feijó D, Pontes P. Avaliação de voz. In: Behlau M, editor. Voz: o livro do especialista. Rio de Janeiro: Revinter; 2001. p. 85-245.) and in vocal loudness, that were still observed after 12 months; also, the louder loudness was related to the higher intraoral pressure(2727 Carrara-de-Angelis E. Voz nos distúrbios neurológicos. In: Ferreira L, Befi-Lopes OP, Limongi SCO, editors. Tratado de fonoaudiologia. São Paulo: Roca; 2004. p. 75-90.). Some studies report better vocal quality and louder vocal loudness after speech therapy that focused on phonation, LSVT; however, there was no improvement in articulation(1717 Dias AE, Limongi JCP. Novidades na aplicação do método Lee Silverman de tratamento vocal (LSVT) na doença de parkinson. Fono Atual. 2002;5(21):64-5.,2828 Ramig LO, Scherer RC. Speech therapy for neurologic disorders of the larynx. In: Blitzer A, Sasaki C, Fahn S, Brin M, Harris K, editors. Neurological disorders of the larynx. New York: Thieme; 1992. p. 163-81.). The present study, confirmed that louder vocal loudness is related to overarticulation training technique.

Considering the perceptual-judgement of facial movements, greater movement of the eyebrows, mouth and eyes, followed by eyebrows and eyes and mouth alone were observed, based on the factors related to facial expressiveness(1515 Behlau M, Harada K. Atendimento fonoaudiológico ao paciente com doença de Parkinson. In: Ferreira L, editor. Trabalhando a voz: vários enfoques em fonoaudiologia. São Paulo: Summus Editorial; 1998. p. 114-20.). The improvement in eyebrows, eyes and mouth movement was significantly higher than the improvement of isolated parameters. Facial expression is considered to be the main source of non-verbal information, it shows the person's emotional state. The eyes are extremely expressive and added to the eyebrow’s movement, they can express almost all types of feelings. Bright eyes express enthusiasm, joy and life, while dull eyes express disappointment and sadness. Low eyebrows express concentration, reflection and seriousness; while high eyebrows, surprise, shock, displeasure or joy. There are reports of greater facial mobility and expression after the LSVT, which shows the indirect impact that phonation tasks alone have on facial movement(1010 Tripoliti E, Zrinzo L, Martinez-Torres I, Frost E, Pinto S, Foltynie T, et al. Effects of subthalamic stimulation on speech of consecutive patients with Parkinson diseases. Neurology. 2011;76(1):80-6. http://dx.doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0b013e318203e7d0. PMid:21068426.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0b013e3182...
).

In addition to aspects related to speech intention, better facial movement may facilitate vertical opening of the mouth. Therefore, louder loudness and more flexibility to pronounce each phoneme which guarantees better visual analysis of facial movements.

The overarticulation technique does not focus on voice, it promotes vocal tract adjustments, better definition of articulation points and greater awareness of breathing, as well as better breathing and speaking coordination, with more vocal projection(2929 Padovani MMP. Medidas perceptivo-auditivas e acústicas de voz e fala e autoavaliação da comunicação das disartrias [tese]. São Paulo: Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo; 2011. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1516-80342011000300023.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1516-80342011...
). This technique is an option for the rehabilitation of patients with PD(3030 Halpern A, Spielman J, Ramig L, Panzer I, Sharpley A, Gustafson H. A novel way to measure speech intelligibility in individuals with Parkinson disease. Mov Disord. 2011;26:S111.), including those submitted to DBS-STN. The data observed in the present study showed that this technique can provide louder vocal loudness and better articulation precision, most evident improvements after the technique, which offers better anatomo-physiological conditions for the PD patients’ communication. However, the inclusion of other exercises, that focus on phonation is necessary; once they will increase glottal resistance providing better vocal production.

It is known that voice and speech training favors the coordination of oral structures and increases vocal projection; thus, it provides more mobility and elasticity of the facial musculature. In this way, this training can harmonize the speech subsystems and allow better integration of voice and speech functions with facial expressiveness; hence, it is an option for communication limitations post DBS. This technique added to an intensive training may be positive in the expressiveness post DBS, which agrees with the assumption that training one (articulation) of the many (speech and voice, facial movement and gestures) parameters of expressiveness can be effective and efficient to improve the overall expressiveness(1717 Dias AE, Limongi JCP. Novidades na aplicação do método Lee Silverman de tratamento vocal (LSVT) na doença de parkinson. Fono Atual. 2002;5(21):64-5.,3131 Cruz AN, Beber BC, Olchik MR, Chaves MLF, Rieder CRM, Dornelles S. Aspectos de comunicação oral em pacientes com doença de Parkinson submetidos à Estimulação Cerebral Profunda. CoDAS. 2016;28(4):480-5. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2317-1782/20162015169. PMid:27556827.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2317-1782/2016...
).

Further studies are needed to verify the long-term effects in the voice, speech and facial movements related to the overarticulation technique in patients with PD who underwent DBS.

CONCLUSION

The overarticulation technique sequence is an option for dysarthria rehabilitation after deep brain stimulation in the subthalamic nucleus in patients with PD. It has immediate positive effects that are kept after 15 minutes, both in vocal aspects, promoting speech intelligibility due to better articulation of speech sounds and speech rate, and in facial movements features, promoting greater expressiveness and optimizing the global facial movement.

  • Study carried out at Centro de Estudos da Voz – CEV – São Paulo (SP), Brasil.
  • Funding: None.
  • Subtitle: n = number; % = percentage; Ref = reference value

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Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    05 Sept 2019
  • Date of issue
    2019

History

  • Received
    22 May 2018
  • Accepted
    19 Mar 2019
Academia Brasileira de Audiologia Rua Itapeva, 202, conjunto 61, CEP 01332-000, Tel.: (11) 3253-8711, Fax: (11) 3253-8473 - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
E-mail: revista@audiologiabrasil.org.br