Perceptual and Acoustic Analysis of Speech in Spinocerebellar ataxia Type 1.

This study characterizes the speech phenotype of spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1) using both perceptual and objective acoustic analysis of speech in a cohort of SCA1 patients. Twenty-seven symptomatic SCA1 patients in various disease stages (SARA score range: 3-32 points) and 18 sex and age matched healthy controls underwent a clinical assessment addressing ataxia severity, non-ataxia signs, cognitive functioning, and speech. Speech samples were perceptually rated by trained speech therapists, and acoustic metrics representing speech timing, vocal control, and voice quality were extracted.

Evaluating communication partner training in healthcare centres: Understanding the mechanisms of behaviour change.

Background: Communication between people with aphasia and their healthcare professionals (HCPs) can be greatly improved when HCPs are trained in using supportive conversation techniques and tools. Communication partner training (CPT) is an umbrella term that covers a range of interventions that train the conversation partners of people with aphasia. Several CPT interventions for HCPs have been developed and used to support HCPs to interact successfully with people with aphasia.

The Association Between Self-reported Low Back Pain and Radiographic Lumbar Disc Degeneration of the Cohort Hip and Cohort Knee (CHECK) Study.

Study Design: Cross-sectional study, nested in a prospective cohort (Cohort Hip and Knee, CHECK).

Objective: Low back pain (LBP) is very common and the main cause of activity limitations and work absence throughout the world. Although lumbar disc degeneration (LDD) is suggested as a cause of LBP, this association remains debatable.

Language impairment in cerebellar ataxia.

Background: Several studies have suggested that language impairment can be observed in patients with cerebellar pathology. The aim of this study was to investigate language performance in patients with spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 (SCA6).

Methods: We assessed speech and language in 29 SCA6 patients with standardized linquistic tests and correlated this with the severity of ataxia, as quantified by the Scale of Assessment and Rating of Ataxia.

Items and dimensions for the construction of a multidimensional computerized adaptive test to measure fatigue in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Objectives: Development of an item pool to construct a future computerized adaptive test (CAT) for fatigue in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The item pool was based on the patients' perspective and examined for face and content validity previously. This study assessed the fit of the items with seven predefined dimensions and examined the item pool's dimensionality structure in statistical terms.