An exploratory model of speech intelligibility for healthy aging based on phonatory and articulatory measures.
Mili Kuruvilla-Dugdale, Maria Dietrich, Jacob D McKinley and 1 others
PMID 32531515WHAT IT FOUND
Healthy older adults speak with less intelligible voices than younger adults in noise.
The main drivers are reduced voice variability and slower tongue movements. Clinicians should treat voice quality and articulatory speed as primary targets for maintaining clear communication in aging.
Key findings
01Older adults had significantly lower speech intelligibility than younger adults when speaking in multi-talker babble.
02Reduced variability in voice quality (CPP SD) and slower maximum tongue speed were significant predictors of lower intelligibility in older adults.
03Older adults exhibited shorter maximum phonation times and lower cepstral peak prominence compared to younger adults.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Small sample size of 15 older adults. Older participants were predominantly between 55 and 75 years, with only one above 80, limiting generalizability to the oldest old. Respiratory and resonatory subsystems were not included in the model. Sex distribution was not perfectly balanced across groups, though used as a covariate. Intelligibility was tested in noise, which may not reflect all daily communication contexts.
Declared interests
The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health and non-U.S. government research support. No specific commercial conflicts of interest were declared by the authors.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the correlation between subsystem measures and intelligibility as evidence that treating these measures will restore intelligibility. This was an exploratory cross-sectional study, not a treatment trial, so it identifies associations rather than causal mechanisms for intervention.