Examining Communication in ALS with Caregivers
This study is looking at how people with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and their caregivers communicate verbally. Researchers want to understand how different ways of talking together affect speech in people with ALS, and if this changes over time. You and your caregiver would work together on tasks like reading words or describing pictures. The goal is to learn more about speech patterns in ALS during everyday interactions. To join, you must be between 18 and 90 years old, have an ALS diagnosis, no other neurological conditions, and some speech changes due to ALS. The study aims to include 76 people with ALS and their caregivers.
- Study design
- This is a single-group study involving 152 participants (76 people with ALS and 76 caregivers). All participants will complete the same tasks.
- What's involved
- You and your caregiver will participate in two 60-minute interactive sessions two weeks apart. In between these sessions, you will complete a word-matching task for about 10 minutes each weekday for two weeks at home.
- Compensation
- Not stated in the trial record.
- Follow-up
- Speech will be measured at two 60-minute sessions, two weeks apart. It is unclear if there is follow-up beyond these sessions.
AI-generated from the public study record. Only the study team can confirm whether you're eligible — confirm details with them before making decisions.
Examining Interactions Between PALS and Caregivers
At a glance
Conditions
NCT06819124
Where you'd take part
This study runs at 1 site. They're the same protocol — you choose where, and that choice sets who your contact draft is addressed to.
Speech Core, Pennsylvania State University
University Park, Pennsylvaniastudy coordinator listed
Recruiting
Sites open and close at different times, so the status above is per site — it can differ from the study's overall status.
Study leadership
- Jimin Lee, Ph.D. · PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR · Penn State University
- Anne Olmstead, Ph.D. · PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR · Penn State University
- Navin Viswanathan, Ph.D. · PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR · Penn State University
Who to contact
Opens a ready-to-send draft in your own email app — review before sending.
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Inclusion
What this trial measures
- Formant frequencies of speech soundstwo 60 minute sessions
Formant frequencies that characterize speech sounds will be made on speech recorded in the intervention task.
- Intelligibility of recorded speechtwo 60 minute sessions
Perceptual judgments will be provided by solo, naïve listeners who did not participate in the interactions. Listeners will hear recorded speech of PALS and age-matched speakers recorded across the different tasks and indicate what they heard. The score will be expressed in percent. The possible range is between 0-100%. The higher scores mean a better outcome.
- Syntactic propertiesTwo 60 minute sessions
Syntactic complexity in the unstructured communication task will be measured through mean length of grammatical units, clausal density, and clause type. Each variable will be assessed at both the dyadic level (e.g., clausal density for both interlocutors together) and at the level of the individual speaker (e.g., clausal density of each speaker). A composite of these measures will provide an index of the syntactic complexity of the conversation.
- Pragmatic PropertiesTwo 60 minute sessions
The investigators will count the number and duration of silent portions of speech, filled pauses, linguistic mazes, speaking turns, and interruptions in the unstructured communication task. A composite measure of the individual measures will provide an index of an individual's contribution to the conversation.
- Duration of speech soundstwo 60 minute sessions
Durations that characterize speech sounds will be made on speech recorded in the intervention task.