Speech abnormalities in tardive dyskinesia

B. R. Gerratt, C. G. Goetz and H. B. Fisher

Twelve outpatients with tardive dyskinesia underwent speech evaluation by trained listeners who analyzed oral reading and vowel production for deviation in multiple speech dimensions. In the six patients with speech abnormalities, temporal organization and voice production dimensions were the most severely deviant and were highly related to the overall intelligibility and bizarre quality of speech. Deviations in articulation were less prominent. Abnormal involuntary movement scale ratings of the trunk in these patients were significantly greater than in the patients without speech impairment, although the lingual-facial-buccal and total body scores were similar between the two groups.