Kinsey Laura E, Cherney Leora R
Center for Aphasia Research and Treatment, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, Chicago, IL.
Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL.
Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2024 Dec 12;33(6S):3247-3262. doi: 10.1044/2024_AJSLP-23-00373. Epub 2024 Jul 26.
Measuring real-world communication participation of individuals with aphasia is complicated. Historically, this has been estimated through subjective participant or proxy self-report. To address potential inaccuracies, objective measures such as "talk time" have been proposed. Although promising, technological barriers to collecting and quantifying everyday conversations have been documented (e.g., background noise interference, differentiating recorded speakers, and operating Bluetooth applications). This study explored the use of a novel laryngeal sensor and a Global Positioning System (GPS) tracker with the objective of measuring mean talk time per hour and participant locations across three 8-hr days.
Sixteen participants utilized a wearable laryngeal sensor that captures physiological mechano-acoustic signals wirelessly, without recording speech content. The sensor differentiates speech from other laryngeal movements associated with swallowing and coughing. A GPS tracker was also issued to track daily locations. Semistructured interviews regarding feasibility and acceptability were conducted with participants at the end of the data collection period.
Across all participants, laryngeal sensor data were collected for a total of 38 days and GPS data for a total of 43 days, with a mean collection period of 8.21 hr ( = 1.38) per day. Mean talk time per hour was 56.46 s ( = 35.27). Participants were tracked at a mean of 2.09 locations daily (range: 1-6). Participants reported the devices were relatively comfortable to wear and easy to use.
Preliminary findings indicated that talk time of individuals with aphasia is limited, though variable. Higher fluency ratings were related to greater mean talk time per hour and locations tracked. Results suggest wearable technology is feasible to use and acceptable to people with aphasia. In the future, wearable devices may offer innovative ways to measure communication participation.
测量失语症患者在现实世界中的交流参与情况较为复杂。从历史上看，这一直是通过主观的参与者或代理人自我报告来估计的。为了解决潜在的不准确问题，有人提出了诸如“谈话时间”等客观测量方法。尽管前景广阔，但已记录到收集和量化日常对话存在技术障碍（例如，背景噪声干扰、区分录音中的说话者以及操作蓝牙应用程序）。本研究探索了使用一种新型喉部传感器和全球定位系统（GPS）追踪器，目的是测量三天每天8小时内每小时的平均谈话时间以及参与者的位置。
16名参与者使用了一种可穿戴喉部传感器，该传感器可无线捕捉生理机械声学信号，且不记录语音内容。该传感器能将语音与吞咽和咳嗽等其他喉部运动区分开来。还发放了一个GPS追踪器来跟踪日常位置。在数据收集期结束时，对参与者进行了关于可行性和可接受性的半结构化访谈。
在所有参与者中，喉部传感器数据共收集了38天，GPS数据共收集了43天，每天的平均收集时长为8.21小时（标准差 = 1.38）。每小时的平均谈话时间为56.46秒（标准差 = 35.27）。参与者每天平均被追踪到2.09个位置（范围：1 - 6）。参与者报告称这些设备佩戴起来相对舒适且易于使用。
初步研究结果表明，失语症患者的谈话时间有限，但存在差异。更高的流畅度评分与每小时更长的平均谈话时间以及更多的被追踪位置相关。结果表明可穿戴技术对失语症患者来说使用可行且可接受。未来，可穿戴设备可能会提供测量交流参与情况的创新方法。
