Smartphone-Based Speech Therapy for Poststroke Dysarthria: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating Efficacy and Feasibility

Background: Dysarthria is a common poststroke speech disorder affecting communication and psychological well-being. Traditional speech therapy is effective but often poses challenges in terms of accessibility and patient adherence. Emerging smartphone-based therapies may offer promising alternatives for the treatment of poststroke dysarthria. Objective: This study aimed to assess the efficacy and feasibility of smartphone-based speech therapy for improving speech intelligibility in patients with acute and early subacute poststroke dysarthria. This study also explored the impact of the intervention on psychological well-being, user experience, and overall feasibility in a clinical setting. Methods: Participants were divided into 2 groups for this randomized, evaluator-blinded trial. The intervention group used a smartphone-based speech therapy app for 1 hour per day, 5 days per week, for 4 weeks, with guideline-based standard stroke care. The control group received standard guideline-based stroke care and rehabilitation. Speech intelligibility, psychological well-being, quality of life, and user acceptance were assessed using repeated measures ANOVA. Results: In this study, 40 patients with poststroke dysarthria were enrolled, 32 of whom completed the trial (16 in each group). The intervention group showed significant improvements in speech intelligibility compared with the control group. This was evidenced by improvements from baseline (F-1,F-30=34.35; P<.001), between-group differences (F-1,F-30=6.18; P=.02), and notable time-by-group interactions (F-1,F-30=6.91; P=.01). Regarding secondary outcomes, the intervention led to improvements in the percentage of correct consonants over time (F-1,F-30=5.57; P=.03). In addition, significant reductions were noted in the severity of dysarthria in the intervention group over time (F-1,F-30=21.18; P<.001), with a pronounced group effect (F-1,F-30=5.52; P=.03) and time-by-group interaction (F-1,F-30=5.29; P=.03). Regarding quality of life, significant improvements were observed as measured by the EQ-5D-3L questionnaire (F-1,F-30=13.25; P<.001) and EQ-VAS (F-1,F-30=7.74; P=.009) over time. The adherence rate to the smartphone-based app was 64%, with over half of the participants completing all the sessions. The usability of the app was rated high (system usability score 80.78). In addition, the intervention group reported increased self-efficacy in using the app compared with the control group (F-1,F-30=10.81; P=.003). Conclusions: The smartphone-based speech therapy app significantly improved speech intelligibility, articulation, and quality of life in patients with poststroke dysarthria. These findings indicate that smartphone-based speech therapy can be a useful assistant device in the management of poststroke dysarthria, particularly in the acute and early subacute stroke stages.