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Dysarthria syndromes in children with cerebral palsy
Author(s) -
Schölderle Theresa,
Haas Elisabet,
Ziegler Wolfram
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
developmental medicine and child neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.658
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1469-8749
pISSN - 0012-1622
DOI - 10.1111/dmcn.14679
Subject(s) - dysarthria , cerebral palsy , psychology , audiology , spastic , spastic cerebral palsy , medicine , psychiatry
Aim To investigate whether dysarthria syndromes acquired in adulthood can also be observed in children with cerebral palsy (CP) and, if so, whether they align with children’s CP subtypes. Method Twenty‐six children with CP participated (mean age 7y 8mo [SD 1y 2mo], 5y 1mo–9y 10mo; 16 males and 10 females). Speech samples were elicited in a computer‐based game and were analysed using the auditory perceptual criteria of the Bogenhausen Dysarthria Scales (BoDyS). For statistical classification, three comparison groups of adults with standard dysarthria syndromes (i.e. spastic, hyperkinetic, and ataxic) were used. Their BoDyS data were entered into a mixture discriminant analysis, with data from the comparison groups as the training sample and those from the children with CP as the test sample. Results were related to findings in a group of adults with CP. Results Among the children with CP, most had spastic ( n =14), while fewer had ataxic ( n =9) or hyperkinetic ( n =3), dysarthria. However, syndrome allocations were significantly more ambiguous than in adults with CP. For 11 children, their dysarthria syndromes did not align with their CP subtype. Interpretation Dysarthria syndromes are less clear cut in children than in adults with CP because of a number of developmental factors. What this paper adds Children with cerebral palsy (CP) show diverse patterns of dysarthric symptoms. Dysarthria syndromes do not seem to manifest fully during childhood. Dysarthria syndrome and CP subtype may not align in children with CP.