Introduction: Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease that significantly
influences motor performance. Recent studies suggest expressive language deficits may also
exist among individuals with PD even though the condition is primarily known for changes in
motor skills. The purpose of this pilot study was to examine the influence of early stage PD on
global coherence or the ability to maintain consistency of a theme or topic. Methods: Discourse
samples were collected from eleven individuals with PD and compared to eleven matched controls
to examine measures of global coherence. Two-minute speech samples describing a “typical day”
were transcribed and rated on mean global coherence and percentage high global coherence. Results:
Greater declines in global coherence were observed among individuals with PD, however,
comparisons of both mean global coherence ratings and percentage high global coherence were
not statistically significant between the two groups. A significant downward linear trend was observed
for both mean global coherence ratings and percentage high coherence among all participants
indicating decreases in global coherence over time. Conclusion: Approaches to the study of
global coherence as a measure of expressive language performance should consider the temporal
changes especially among neurological conditions known to reduce expressive language ability.
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