ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Neuromuscular Disorders and Peripheral Neuropathies
Characteristics of Dysarthria in Patients with Spinocerebellar Degeneration and Multiple System Atrophy: A Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Study using the Frenchay Dysarthria Assessment–Second Edition (FDA-2)
Provisionally accepted
Arisa Kawabata1,2
Ayako Wada2*
Michiyuki Kawakami2Kentaro Kaji1Kenta Nakanishi1
Tomoyoshi Otsuka1Tetsuya Tsuji2- 1Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, National Hospital Organization Higashisaitama National Hospital, Saitama, Japan
- 2Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the dysarthria of patients with spinocerebellar degeneration and multiple system atrophy (SCD/MSA) cross-sectionally and longitudinally using the Frenchay Dysarthria Assessment-2 (FDA-2), which provides a comprehensive assessment of dysarthria, and to clarify characteristic patterns and longitudinal changes. Materials and methods: A total of 21 patients with SCD and MSA were included. Patients' dysarthria was assessed using the FDA-2 and the Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA) item 4(SARA speech) at intervals of ≥ 12 months. Changes over time were examined with a paired t-test and Wilcoxon's signed-rank test. Multiple regression analysis explored determinants of speech intelligibility, with FDA-2 intelligibility as the dependent variable and respiration, lips, palate, laryngeal, and tongue subscores as predictors. Results: The number of patients according to disease types was SCA2 in 1, SCA3 in 8, SCA31 in 1, MSA-C in 8, and an undetermined disease type in 3. The examination interval was 31.1 ± 15.6 months. FDA-2 scores were lower for repetitive-movement or speech items than for rest items. Lips and palate subscores were relatively higher, whereas laryngeal and tongue subscores were lower. Over time, reflex, lips, laryngeal, tongue, and total scores declined significantly, whereas the palate, respiration, and intelligibility scores remained stable. Multiple regression identified the laryngeal subscores as the only significant predictor of intelligibility (Sβ = 0.77, p = 0.047). Conclusion: The FDA-2 revealed a distinct dysarthria profile in SCD/MSA. Longitudinal FDA-2 monitoring may facilitate early detection and targeted intervention.
Keywords: Dysarthria assessment, FDA-2, Multiple system atrophy(MSA), speech impairment, Spinocerebellar degeneration(SCD)
Received: 28 Oct 2025; Accepted: 08 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kawabata, Wada, Kawakami, Kaji, Nakanishi, Otsuka and Tsuji. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ayako Wada
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.