Diadochokinetic Rate of Normal Children and Adults : A Preliminary Study

Choe, Jungyun; Han, Jin Soon

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Commun Sci Disord. 1998;3(1): 183-194.

Jungyun Choe^` , and Jin Soon Han^`

최정윤(Jungyun Choe)| 한진순(Jin Soon Han)

ABSTRACT

Intelligibility an d n atur alnes s of speech can be affect ed by diminished st r en gth , speed, an d r an ge of the art iculatory mu s cles . T her efore, diadochokin etic rate that r equir es alt ernating art iculat ory mov ement s is u s ed to provide an object iv e mea - sur e of the impairment of th e the lips , the anterior and post erior t on gu e, an d th e man dible t o scr een neurological disorder s . T h e purpose of this r esear ch is to provide pr elimin ary norms of diadochokinet ic r ate in Kor ean . One hun dr ed an d twenty - thr ee n ormal people with ag es r an ging from 2 t o 73 y ear s wer e stu died. T hey wer e div ided int o 7 group s accordin g t o th eir ages . Sev en diadochokin etic movement s were recorded with / pa/ , / ta/ , / ka/ , / pata/ , / paka/ , / taka/ , and / pataka/ . T he subject s wer e simply in st ruct ed t o produce th e soun ds as r apidly as pos sible at comfortable pitch and loudness for 7 seconds. T hree trials of each diadochokinetic mov ement wer e elicit ed. Diadoch okinetic r at es incr eas ed as people aged th en start ed t o decrease aft er the ag e of 40. T he differences in diadochokinet ic r at es between male and female subject s wer e n ot significant . Youn g females t end t o perform bett er th an males . Howev er , elderly males t end to perform bet ter than females . Diadochokin et ic rates decr eas ed from high t o low in the following order : / ta/ , / pa/ , / ka/ , / pat a/ , / t aka/ , and / paka/ . T he performances of on e syllable, two syllables , and thr ee syllables showed the r at e r atio of 3:2:1.