Characteristics of Speech Breathing in de novo Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease during Passage Reading Tasks

Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease patients' speech is hypokinetic dysarthria and their speech is possibly the consequence of impaired respiratory support. The purpose of this study was focused on the respiratory characteristics of speech breathing in de novo IPD who were not given prior vocal or anti-Parkinson treatment. A total of 40 subjects participated in the study: 20 de novo IPD patients between the ages of 50 and 80, and 20 normal subjects with similar age, height, and weight matches. Forced Expiratory Vital Capacity (FVC), Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 sec (FEV1) and as a percentage of FVC (FEV1/FVC) was measured with a PC-based spirometer (Cosmed). In addition, Maximum Phonation Time (MPT), Mean Airflow Rate (MFR), Subglottal Pressure (Psub) and the number of syllables produced per breath were measured with a Phonatory Aerodynamic System (Kay PENTAX). All subjects were asked to read a standardized Korean paragraph and the following measurements were obtained from the task. Results indicated no statistically significant differences in respiratory function (FEV1/FVC%) and aerodynamic function between the two groups, but the number of syllables per breath was significantly lower in the IPD patient group than in the normal group and it could be predicted by FVC and MFR. Therefore, the study shows that the MFR from the lungs during speech in de novo IPD patients is used inefficiently.