Efficacy of a motor speech intervention in children with cerebral palsy: A randomized controlled trial

Children with cerebral palsy (CP) may have difficulties controlling the muscles and movements needed for speech. This condition, known as dysarthria, can make speech less clear and more difficult for other people to understand. Difficulties with speech can affect communication, participation in everyday activities, and interactions with family and peers. Identifying effective interventions is therefore important for children with CP and their families. In study, we investigated the effectiveness of MSI-PROMPT, a motor-speech treatment designed to improve the control and coordination of movements needed for speech. Sixty children with CP and dysarthria were randomly assigned either to receive MSI-PROMPT or to a control group. We assessed the ability to control the movements needed for speech before and after treatment, including speech intelligibility, severity of dysarthria, and different components of speech motor control. Children who received MSI-PROMPT showed greater improvements than children in the control group across the main aspects of speech that we measured. The findings indicate that MSI-PROMPT can improve speech production and intelligibility in children with CP and dysarthria. Exploratory analyses also suggested that children may respond differently to treatment depending on how severe their speech difficulties were before treatment. These findings suggest that each child's individual speech difficulties may be important when planning treatment. The improvements were still present 3 months after treatment. However, because there was no untreated control group for comparison at this stage, these longer-term findings should be considered preliminary.