A comparison of in-person and telehealth treatment modalities using the speechvive device

Telehealth is an increasingly popular treatment option for people with Parkinson disease (PD). The SpeechVive device is a wearable device that uses the Lombard effect to help patients speak more loudly, slowly, and clearly. This study sought to examine the effectiveness of the device to improve communication in people with PD, delivered in-person and over a telehealth modality using an implementation science design. Sixty-six (66) people with PD were enrolled for twelve (12) weeks with thirty-four (34) choosing the in-person group and thirty-two (32) in the telehealth group. Participants were assessed pre-, mid-, and post-treatment. Participants produced continuous speech samples with and without the device at each timepoint. Sound pressure level (SPL), utterance length, pause frequency, and total pause duration were measured. Psychosocial questionnaires were administered to evaluate the effects of treatment on depression, self-efficacy, and participation. The in-person group increased SPL when wearing the device while the telehealth group did not. Both groups paused less often while wearing the device. Utterance length increased post-treatment for the telehealth group, but not for the in-person group. An increase in communication participation ratings in the telehealth group, but not the in-person group, was the only significant change in the psychosocial metrics. The in-person group showed similar treatment effects as previous studies. The device had less effect on intensity in the telehealth group but improved comminicative participation ratings more, as compared to in-person. One limitation was data loss due to recording issues that impacted the telehealth group more than the in-person group.