Associating the Bulbar and Respiratory Dysfunctions in Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Year: 2018
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Motivated by the need to establish clinical measures of bulbar motor dysfunction, this study investigated the associations between bulbar and respiratory measures in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). A secondary analysis of 158 participants (female=59) evaluated: (1) group differences in bulbar motor measures between patients with normal respiratory function (ALSnr) and those with impaired respiratory function (ALSir); and (2) correlations between the bulbar motor and respiratory measures. A significantly larger percent pause time during passage reading was revealed in the ALSir (24.4±7.1) as compared to ALSnr (19.6±6.5) group. A significant negative correlation between percent pause time and forced vital capacity (%FVC) was identified; a partial correlation between percent pause time and speaking rate remained significant after controlling for %FVC. The findings suggested that the respiratory deficit minimally affected the selected bulbar motor measures, thus supporting their use in clinical assessment of bulbar ALS.
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: Nicholas Alexander Wasylyk
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Neurology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2920455486