Effectiveness of speech therapy for people with Friedreich's ataxia

Effectiveness of Lee Silverman Voice Treatment in improving communication in people with Friedreich’s ataxia

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ISRCTN

Registry ID

ISRCTN17619184

Enrollment

Registered

2018-11-16

Start date

2017-07-01

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2020-09-14

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Friedreich's ataxia, other hereditary ataxias Nervous System Diseases Early-onset cerebellar ataxia

Interventions

A group of 20 patients with Friedreich's Ataxia and communication problems will be recruited. There are no restrictions regarding the severity of the ataxia or the speech problem. All participants wil

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: 1. Confirmed diagnosis of hereditary ataxia, primarily Friedreich's ataxia 2. Presence of a speech impairment 3. Ability to perform assessment and treatment tasks 4. No uncorrected hearing loss 5. Availability of appropriate technology to record voice and operate Skype

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: 1. Ataxia due to non-hereditary reasons 2. Lack of speech impairment 3. Inability to perform assessment or treatment tasks 4. Significant hearing loss that would impact on speech performance 5. Unable to participate in Skype conversations

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Participants will be assessed before and after treatment. Multiple baseline assessments will be taken (assessments 1 & 2, approximately 2 weeks apart). Performance will then be re-assessed immediately following (assessment 3) and 6-8 weeks after the end of treatment (assessment 4). 1. Maximum loudness on prolonged /a/ and mean loudness of a reading passage measured acoustically in decibel at assessments 1, 2, 3 & 4 2. Voice quality of prolonged /a/ evaluated acoustically (shimmer, jitter, harmonics to noise ratio) at assessments 1, 2, 3 & 4 3. Articulation and speech rate of a reading passage assessed acoustically in syllables per minute at assessments 1, 2, 3 & 4 4. Intelligibility of a reading passage measured perceptually on a 9-point scale according to Dobinson (2007) at assessments 1, 2, 3 & 4	—

Measure

Time frame

Participants will be assessed before and after treatment. Multiple baseline assessments will be taken (assessments 1 & 2, approximately 2 weeks apart). Performance will then be re-assessed immediately following (assessment 3) and 6-8 weeks after the end of treatment (assessment 4). 1. Maximum loudness on prolonged /a/ and mean loudness of a reading passage measured acoustically in decibel at assessments 1, 2, 3 & 4 2. Voice quality of prolonged /a/ evaluated acoustically (shimmer, jitter, harmonics to noise ratio) at assessments 1, 2, 3 & 4 3. Articulation and speech rate of a reading passage assessed acoustically in syllables per minute at assessments 1, 2, 3 & 4 4. Intelligibility of a reading passage measured perceptually on a 9-point scale according to Dobinson (2007) at assessments 1, 2, 3 & 4

—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Participants will be assessed before and after treatment. Multiple baseline assessments will be taken (assessments 1 & 2, approximately 2 weeks apart). Performance will then be re-assessed immediately following (assessment 3) and 6-8 weeks after the end of treatment (assessment 4). 1. Communication participation assessed with the Communication Participation Item Bank short form (CPIB, Baylor et al. 2012) at assessments 1 & 3 2. Impact of the voice problem assessed with the Voice Handicap Index ( VHI, Jacobson et al. 1997) at assessments 1 & 3 3. Levels of communication impact, confidence and engagement evaluated with a self-constructed, unpublished questionnaire on a Visual Analogue Scale, and baseline and exit semi-structured interviews at assessments 1 & 3 4. Participants’ evaluation of therapy programme and Skype delivery established during exit interview at assessment 3 5. Fatigue measured with the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS, Krupp et al, 1989 ) at assessments 1 & 3	—

Measure

Time frame

Participants will be assessed before and after treatment. Multiple baseline assessments will be taken (assessments 1 & 2, approximately 2 weeks apart). Performance will then be re-assessed immediately following (assessment 3) and 6-8 weeks after the end of treatment (assessment 4). 1. Communication participation assessed with the Communication Participation Item Bank short form (CPIB, Baylor et al. 2012) at assessments 1 & 3 2. Impact of the voice problem assessed with the Voice Handicap Index ( VHI, Jacobson et al. 1997) at assessments 1 & 3 3. Levels of communication impact, confidence and engagement evaluated with a self-constructed, unpublished questionnaire on a Visual Analogue Scale, and baseline and exit semi-structured interviews at assessments 1 & 3 4. Participants’ evaluation of therapy programme and Skype delivery established during exit interview at assessment 3 5. Fatigue measured with the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS, Krupp et al, 1989 ) at assessments 1 & 3

—

Countries

Switzerland, United Kingdom

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ISRCTN (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026