Dysarthria Profiles of Patients with Friedreich Ataxia and Spinocerebellar Ataxias Type 3 and Type 6

Dysarthria and intelligibility profiles of 30 patients with Friedreich ataxia (FA), spinocerebellar ataxia of type 3 (SCA3) and 6 (SCA6) with n = 10 patients in each group are described and compared with each other. Groups were matched regarding severity of ataxia and disease duration. Overall, the patients showed only mild motor speech disorders. Intelligibility was lower for both SCA groups compared to FA. However, intelligibility was rather high in all groups. The variables respiration, speech quality, speech stability and articulation were among the most affected speech dimensions in each group. Beside these common characteristics, some special features were associated with SCA6 patients. They showed more pronounced articulatory problems, their speech rate was particularly reduced and their prosodic modulation was more disturbed.