Speech and Communication Changes Reported by People with Parkinson’s Disease

TLDR

Communication functions are frequently impaired in Parkinson’s disease, yet little is known from patients’ perspectives about how these changes are perceived, their consequences, or the interventions they receive. The study aims to describe patients’ self‑reported speech and communication symptoms, their impact on participation, and the extent of speech‑language pathology services, while recommending that services also address cognitive‑linguistic needs. Participants were recruited through the Swedish Parkinson’s Disease Society and completed a questionnaire delivered online or in paper form. Among 188 respondents, 92.5 % reported at least one communication symptom—most commonly weak voice, word‑finding difficulty, imprecise articulation, and off‑topic speech—leading to restricted participation in a quarter to a third of cases and embarrassment for over half; only 45 % had received speech‑language pathology services, highlighting inadequate access.

Abstract

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Changes in communicative functions are common in Parkinson’s disease (PD), but there are only limited data provided by individuals with PD on how these changes are perceived, what their consequences are, and what type of intervention is provided. <b><i>Aim:</i></b> To present self-reported information about speech and communication, the impact on communicative participation, and the amount and type of speech-language pathology services received by people with PD. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Respondents with PD recruited via the Swedish Parkinson’s Disease Society filled out a questionnaire accessed via a Web link or provided in a paper version. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Of 188 respondents, 92.5% reported at least one symptom related to communication; the most common symptoms were weak voice, word-finding difficulties, imprecise articulation, and getting off topic in conversation. The speech and communication problems resulted in restricted communicative participation for between a quarter and a third of the respondents, and their speech caused embarrassment sometimes or more often to more than half. Forty-five percent of the respondents had received speech-language pathology services. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> Most respondents reported both speech and language symptoms, and many experienced restricted communicative participation. Access to speech-language pathology services is still inadequate. Services should also address cognitive/linguistic aspects to meet the needs of people with PD.