Trastornos del habla en personas con esclerosis múltiple y su repercusión en la calidad de vida

Introduction

Multiple sclerosis is a demyelinating disease of autoimmune origin that affects the central nervous system. Among the damages it causes are the alterations of speech, which compromises the communicative capacity of people with this disease, thus decreasing their quality of life.

Objective

To analyze how speech disorders of people with multiple sclerosis influence quality of life measures.

Material and method

45 people with multiple sclerosis participated, 31 (68.88%) with no speech alterations and 31 (68,88%) with them. A speech assessment protocol (PEH), and 2 quality of life test (QoL-Dys and FAMS) were applied to all the participants.

Results

There are no differences in the general quality of life between participants with and without speech alterations, but there are differences in the items related to the rates of sadness and depression; and in the specific quality of life test regarding speech.

Conclusions

People with multiple sclerosis show a reduction in maximum phonation time regardless of whether or not they have dysarthria. When this is present, their perception of their quality of life is more affected, especially with regard to the perceived reactions and the levels of sadness and depression.