Evidence Supporting Dysarthria Intervention: An Update of Systematic Reviews

Dysarthria represents a group of motor speech disorders (MSDs) characterized by weakness, slowness, and/or lack of coordination of the speech musculature as a result of damage to the nervous system. This article reviews the history of our attempt to provide an evidence base for dysarthria intervention, to describe some recent efforts, and to propose some directions for the future. From 2001 to 2007, the Dysarthria Writing Committee published a series of 7 systematic reviews evaluating 333 articles focusing on specific components of speech production, such as velopharyngeal dysfunction, or intervention for specific conditions, such as spasmodic dysphonia. These reviews offer evidence for the benefits of dysarthria intervention for speakers with selected dysarthria characteristics. More recently, scoping reviews have been used to map areas of relevant literature on the topics of speech supplementation and intervention in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Two trends will influence the future: (a) the movement f...