Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the need for a speech therapist in planning long-term care, managing symptoms, and addressing disabilities in patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS).
Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in Varna and involved questions about the need for additional services and speech therapy. The survey was conducted through home visits, phone calls, and patient meetings with an MS specialist nurse. Sixty-two patients diagnosed with MS with varying degrees of disability were surveyed, and the studied parameters were analyzed. Results: The study found that 27 respondents (44%) had speech disorders, with 41% of them experiencing these disorders for more than a year. The types of disorders are diverse, with 44% of respondents describing their speech as unclear and incomprehensible to others, and 37% describing it as clear and understandable but reporting difficulty finding the right words during communication. 84% of all surveyed patients would seek consultation with a speech therapist. Contemporary research on MS increasingly considers language disorders one of the clinical manifestations of the disease.
Conclusion The study results unequivocally demonstrate the need for speech therapy, necessitating the inclusion of a speech therapist in the multidisciplinary team for planning long-term care and managing the disease in patients diagnosed with MS.
Analyzing speech and language disorders can provide additional insights into markers associated with disease progression in MS patients, emphasizing the need for a speech therapist at various disease stages and in planning individualized comprehensive rehabilitation programs.
Без план - разписание за продължаващо обучение на медицински сестри, акушерки и асоциираните медицински специалисти за 2015 година: Медицински университет – София, 2015.
Винарова, Ж.,Михова, П., eds. Здравната информация като социален регулатор. София: Захарий Стоянов, 2012, 315.
Колев, Г., Димова, Д. Възможности за лечение на множествената склероза чрез диета и физически упражнения. Варненски медицински форум, 2013, 2, приложение
Масларов, Д., Нисимов, И. Алгоритми за сестринска дейност в неврологично отделение. Сестринско дело, 2010, 42, 2-3, 35-41.
Миланов, И.Р. Български алгоритъм за диагностика и лечение на множествена склероза. Двигателни нарушения, 2014, 11, 1, 5-40.
Неврология под редакцията на акад. проф. д-р Иван Миланов, д.м.н., издателска къща Стено, Варна, 2021 г.
Baylor, C., Yorkston, K., Bamer, A., Britton, D., & Amtmann, D. (2009). Variables associated with communicative participation in people with multiple sclerosis: A regression analysis. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19948761/ doi: 10.1044/1058-0360(2009/08-0087).
Crosson Bruce, Subcortical Mechanisms in Language: (1999). Lexical–Semantic Mechanisms and the Thalamus, Brain and Cognition, Volume 40, Issue 2, (414-438), ISSN 0278-2626
El-Wahsh, S., Ballard, K., Kumfor, F., & Bogaardt, H. (2020). Prevalence of self-reported language impairment in multiple sclerosis and the association with health-related quality of life: an international survey study. Multiple sclerosis and related disorders, 39, 101896.
Geschwind Norman, disconnexion syndromes in animals and man, Brain, 1965,Volume 88, Issue 3, Page 585
Hagoort, P. (2013). MUC (memory, unification, control) and beyond. Frontiers in psychology, 4, 416.
Henry, J. D., & Beatty, W. W. (2006). Verbal fluency deficits in multiple sclerosis. Neuropsychologia, 44(7), 1166-1174
Ketteler Daniel, Kastrau Frank, Vohn Rene, HubeWalter, (2007). The subcortical role of language processing. High level linguistic features such as ambiguity-resolution and the human brain; an fMRI study, NeuroImage, Volume 39, Issue 4, (2002-2009), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2007.10.023
ISSN 1053-8119,
Klugman, T. M., & Ross, E. (2002). Perceptions of the impact of speech, language, swallowing, and hearing difficulties on quality of life of a group of South African persons with multiple sclerosis. Folia phoniatrica et logopaedica, 54(4), 201-221. https://doi.org/10.1159/000063194.
Matotek, K., Saling, M. M., Gates, P., & Sedal, L. (2001). Subjective complaints, verbal fluency, and working memory in mild multiple sclerosis. Applied Neuropsychology, 8(4), 204-210.
McCabe, M.P., Ebacioni, K.J., Simmons, R., McDonald, E., Melton, L. Unmet education, psychological and peer support needs of people with multiple sclerosis. J Psychosom Res, 2015, 78, 1, 82-87.
Norman Geschwind, The Organization of Language and the Brain Selected Papers on Language and the Brain, 1974, Volume 16
SBN : 978-90-277-0263-0,
Poeppel, D., & Hickok, G. (2004). Towards a new functional anatomy of language. Cognition, 92(1-2), 1-12
Potagas, C., Mitsonis, C., Watier, L., Dellatolas, G., Retziou, A., Mitropoulos, P. A., ... & Vassilopoulos, D. (2008). Influence of anxiety and reported stressful life events on relapses in multiple sclerosis: a prospective study. Multiple Sclerosis Journal, 14(9), 1262-1268.
Ropper, A.H., Samuels, M., J.P.Prasad , S. Multiple sclerosis and other inflammatory demyelinating diseases. In: Adams and Victor’s principles of neurology . 11th ed. Ropper, A,H., Samuels M., Klein, J.P., Prasad, S., eds.,New York, McGraw-Hill Education, 2019, 936-966
Rusz, J., Benova, B., Ruzickova, H., Novotny, M., Tykalova, T., Hlavnicka, J., ... & Horakova, D. (2018). Characteristics of motor speech phenotypes in multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis and related disorders, 19, 62-69.
Renauld Stéphanie, Lyakout Mohamed-Saïd, Joël Macoir, (2016) Language disorders in multiple sclerosis: A systematic review, Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders, Volume 10, (103-111), ISSN 2211-0348,
Yorkston, K. M., Baylor, C., & Amtmann, D. (2014). Communicative participation restrictions in multiple sclerosis: Associated variables and correlation with social functioning. Journal of Communication Disorders, 52, 196-206. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2014.05.005
