Thank you for your participation in the PD COMM trial!
The PD COMM trial would not have been possible without your willingness to join the clinical trial and share your views and experiencs of your Parkinson's, difficulties in communication and the changes you saw or didn't see over 12 months.
Despite all the additional challenges such as the COVID pandemic, we managed to sucessfully recruit, provide speech and language therapy to and follow up enough people to answer this important question.
Why was the trial needed?
Most people with Parkinson's develop difficulties with their speech and voice. Communicating becomes difficult. This affects their relationships, work, social life and how they feel about themselves. Our PD COMM trial compared two types of speech and language therapy to find out if they helped the speech and voice problems people with Parkinson's have. We measured changes in the way their voice and speech problems affected their lives and how much therapy cost the NHS and families.
Who took part?
Everyone taking part has speech or voice problems because of their Parkinson's. People could not take part if they had dementia, evidence of laryngeal pathology or previous laryngeal surgery or received speech and language therapy for PD in the last two years.
What did they do?
People who agreed to take part joined one of three groups which were alike except for the therapy they received. A computer decided which group they joined by chance.
- 'Standard' NHS Speech and Language therapy
- Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT)®
- No speech and language therapy for 12 months
What did we find?
The 388 people who took part came from 41 outpatient clinics in Scotland, England and Wales. Most were older men. The people that received LSVT LOUD® felt better about their speech and voice after 3 months compared to people in the other groups. A year later, they still felt better about it. People that received NHS therapy had no benefit compared to people with no access to therapy. Analysis of cost-effectiveness indicated that LSVT LOUD® did not offer value for money and the intervention cost more because more speech and language therapy time was needed to deliver it.
What happens next?
Our next question is to ask how we can provide LSVT LOUD® in a way that costs less e.g., using therapy assistants and computer packages or at home. Clear speech and language therapy approaches for people with Parkinson's and speech or voice problems should be tested in trials that measure changes in people's lives.