Speech Analysis in ALS Patients

Speech Analysis in ALS Patients With and Without Cognitive Abnormalities: Evaluation of Sensitivity and Disease Progression

The purpose of this study is to find out if changes in speech can signal changes in the ability to think or remember. ALS patients with and without cognitive dysfunction will be followed for one year. Every three months, patients will undergo a series of cognitive and basic clinical outcomes tests. In addition, participants will take home a study-provided tablet on which they will complete weekly speech recording activities.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis; ALS; Lou Gehrig Disease

Detailed Description

Cognitive dysfunction is increasingly recognized as a core feature of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). With appropriate testing, up to 50% of ALS patients will show evidence of frontotemporal dysfunction. Approximately 15% of patients meet formal criteria for frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Certain genetic forms of ALS (e.g., mutations in C9orf72) have even higher incidences of FTD. The presence of cognitive abnormalities is an adverse risk factor for survival, and its presence influences the ability of patients to cooperate in clinical trials. However, screening for frontotemporal abnormalities is frequently not performed in ALS clinics, and tools for diagnosing cognitive dysfunction are either time consuming or insensitive. Additionally, the frequently co-existing dysarthria complicates the assessment and may mask more subtle cognitive deficits. Once identified, ways of following progressive decline are also lacking. In an ongoing study, it has been shown that a sophisticated suite of speech and language analytics, developed by two of the investigators, can identify abnormalities in cognitively normal ALS patients without speech symptoms, and predict important functional changes outside of the speech domain. In this study, investigators will evaluate both speech and language in 50 patients with ALS both with and without symptoms of cognitive decline. This evaluation will be paired with two cognitive screening tools frequently used in ALS clinics, the ALS Cognitive Behavioral Screen (ALS-CBS) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). The investigators will evaluate the extent to which speech and language deficits precede abnormalities as measured by the above tools and determine whether cognitive change can be accurately followed over 12 months using speech and language measures. It is hypothesized that speech and language measures will accurately and sensitively predict cognitive changes. If so, such measures may be very useful in future studies of potential therapeutic agents for ALS-FTD and other dementias.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 26

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Kerisa Shelton, PhD; Phone Number: 602-406-6598; Email: kerisa.shelton@dignityhealth.org

Study Locations

• United States
  • Arizona
    • Phoenix, Arizona, United States, 85013
      • Barrow Neurological Institute

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 21 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients with ALS, diagnosed as definite, probable, or possible ALS according to the modified El Escorial Criteria.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. male or female, age 21 or older,
2. diagnosed with definite, probable, or possible ALS according to the modified El Escorial Criteria,
3. a score of 2 or greater on the speech question of the ALSFRS-R (i.e. speech is intelligible with occasional repetition),
4. continuous internet access at home,
5. willingness and medical ability to comply with scheduled visits and study procedures,
6. ability to understand the purpose and risks of the study and provide signed and dated informed consent and authorization to use protected health information (PHI) in accordance with national and local subject privacy regulations,
7. geographic accessibility to study site,
8. for the 25 participants in Group 1, NO noted symptoms of frontotemporal cognitive dysfunction, and
9. for the 25 participants in Group 2, MUST have cognitive symptoms as noted either by themselves or a caregiver.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. unwilling or unable to comply with the requirements of this protocol, including the presence of any condition (physical, mental, or social) that is likely to affect the participant's ability to comply with the protocol, and
2. any other reasons that, in the opinion of the PI, cause the candidate to be deemed unsuitable for entry into the study.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in ability on Speech and Language Battery	Speech recordings made at home via a tablet using the " SpeechAssess" app.	Weekly recordings for one year

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Montreal Cognitive Assessment	Cognitive screening tool	Administered every three months for a year
Change in ALS Cognitive Behavioral Screen	Cognitive screening tool	Administered every three months for a year
Change in Vital Capacity	Measure of breathing function	Administered every three months for a year
Change in Negative Inspiratory Force	Measure of nasal inhale capabilities	Administered every three months for a year
Change in "ALS Functional Rating Scale- Revised"	Questionnaire regarding daily functioning. Scale is measured from 0 to 48 points, with 48 being normal function and 0 indicating no functional abilities.	Administered every three months for a year

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Barrow Neurological Institute
• Collaborators: Arizona State University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 18, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): April 30, 2021
• Study Completion (Actual): April 30, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 6, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 6, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): March 11, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): March 9, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 7, 2023
• Last Verified: March 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: ALS; Speech; Cognitive dysfunction
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Metabolic Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Neuromuscular Diseases; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Spinal Cord Diseases; TDP-43 Proteinopathies; Proteostasis Deficiencies; Motor Neuron Disease; Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
• Other Study ID Numbers: BNI-ALS-003

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No