Group Speech Therapy in Individuals With Parkinson Disease: Face-to-Face Versus Telemedicine

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of group speech therapy for individuals with Parkinson Disease (IWPD) in general and to compare outcomes of group treatment delivered face-to-face (FtF) versus delivery via telemedicine (TM). Twenty-seven IWPD received group treatment based on a modified version of LSVT® in either an FtF or TM format. Outcome measures were collected pre- and post-treatment, which included vocal intensity (dB), Voice Handicap Index (VHI) scores, and self-ratings. Results indicated that vocal intensity and self-ratings of loudness significantly increased for both the FtF and TM groups. VHI scores and the five remaining self-ratings were not significantly improved for either group following treatment, although the data on all measures from the FtF group did show improvement. The findings of this study support the short-term effectiveness of FtF and TM group therapy for improving vocal intensity and participant self-ratings of loudness in IWPD.