Measuring intelligibility in adults with dysarthria

What is it about?

Improving intelligibility of adults with dysarthria is one of the main goals for speech therapy. Hence, measuring intelligibility level before therapy, and during therapy to track progress, is key. Our survey found that Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) working with adults rarely use the recommended measurement methods. Improved education, access to existing measurement tools, and development of new tools that fill clinicians' needs and realistic working conditions are called for.

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Why is it important?

In addition to identifying a trend of clinical practice, we sought to determine what drives this trend. For example, non-use of standardized tools to measure intelligibility is not limited to clinicians who lack access; clinicians with access also prefer informal tools. We highlight the need for objective measure of this particular deficit.