The Radboud Dysarthria Assessment: Development and Clinimetric Evaluation

Abstract

Objective: In the absence of an adequate dysarthria assessment in the Netherlands, we developed the Radboud Dysarthria Assessment (RDA). This article describes its development and clinimetric evaluation. Patients and Methods: Forty-three patients were assessed with the RDA. The recording forms were subjected to exploratory factor analysis and estimation of internal consistency. The self-evaluation questionnaire was tested for internal consistency and the severity scale for intra- and inter-rater reliability. Construct validity of the severity scale and questionnaire was determined by relating them to the Speech Handicap Index (SHI), Dutch sentence intelligibility assessment (NSVO-Z), and category fluency task. Results: Exploratory factor analysis extracted 4 factors (articulation, resonance, phonation, respiration/prosody) yielding an explained variance of 70.3%. Each factor showed good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α: 0.89–0.91). The self-evaluation questionnaire showed excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s α: 0.90). Intra-class correlation coefficients of the severity scale (0.85–0.86) showed good reliability. The severity scores and self-evaluation questionnaire correlated substantially to strongly with the SHI (r_s = 0.40 and 0.80) and substantially with the NSVO-Z (r_s = –0.65 and –0.52). Conclusions: The RDA is a valid and reliable tool, but further investigation is needed to demonstrate whether this instrument can successfully support speech-language therapists in correctly diagnosing the type of dysarthria.

Everyday Activities for Children with Mitochondrial Disorder: A Retrospective Chart Review

“…Member checking with health care professionals was used to verify the profiles. Functional capacities were stratified as the following: Cognitive development (based on the age-related norm-referenced test used for each child): 1 = extremely low cognitive functioning, 2 = low cognitive functioning, 3 = average cognitive functioning, and 4 = good cognitive functioning; Ambulation (Hoffer scale [ 22 ], with the normal ambulation level added by Schoenmakers et al [ 23 ]): 1 = nonambulation, 2 = nonfunctional ambulation, 3 = household ambulation, 4 = community ambulation, and 5 = normal ambulation; and Speech abilities (Radboud dysarthria assessment [ 24 ]): 1 = no oral communication possible, 2 = communication with a known person, 3 = frequent repetitions (frequently repeating themselves to guarantee that they will be understood), 4 = incidental repetitions, 5 = effective despite small problems, and 6 = effective communication.…”

Speech changes in patients with a full rehabilitation for severe tooth wear, a first evaluation study

“…Recordings of the patients' speech on the same three occasions: before treatment (T 0 ), immediately after treatment (T 1 ) and 1 month after treatment (T 2 ). The recorded material consisted of the Dutch text 'De Koning' [18]. All speech samples were taken with the same Tascam DR-05 recording machine, under standard conditions in a sound isolated room at the audiological center of the Radboud University Medical Center.…”

Speech-language disorders in CADASIL: a case report

“…As observed in degenerative diseases of the nervous system, the manifestations are unpredictable, including different types of dysarthrophonia or even combinations between them, as in cases of mixed dysarthrophonia. Several factors can lead to such swallowing and voice changes, such as involvement of corticobulbar and cerebellar tracts, brain stem dysfunctions and cognitive alterations 12,14,15 .…”