Speech therapy aspects and quality of life in Parkinson's disease: case reports

OBJECTIVE: Determining the profile of speech therapy of Parkinson's Disease patients and correlate them to the quality of life. METHOD: A descriptive cross-sectional case studies and quantitative. We selected patients with a clinical diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease and likely used the following instruments: Mini-Mental State Examination, speech therapy evaluation and Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire. RESULTS: The study included 12 participants (4 men and 8 women) with a mean age of 62.25 ± 10.28 years and with a mean time of diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease 5.2 ± 3.54 years. The disease stage, according to Hoehn and Yahr scale, ranged between 2 and 3. Participants had, on average, 23.83 ± 4.75 points on the Mini-Mental State Examination, with mean formal instruction of 4.25 ± 3.44 years. There was a change of maximum phonation time, breath, voice, smell, articulation and swallowing. The worst perception of quality of life participants was observed in the categories bodily discomfort, activity of daily living and mobility. The scores of these categories rise when increasing inability of the subject seen in the stage of the disease, as well as the categories of cognition, emotional well-being and communication. All participants with abnormal articulation in the speech evaluation scored in the category "communication". CONCLUSION: The speech pathology, in this study, was highlighted in patients with Parkinson's disease involve aspects of voice, breathing, swallowing, smell and dysarthria which infer interference with quality of life. The trembling mandible, also presents possible effect on quality of life of patients with the disease, especially in communication.</p