[Dysarthria: a speech rate study].
BACKGROUND: speech rate in dysarthric patients. AIM: to obtain an objective measure of the speech rate of dysarthric patients during the reading of a standardized text and during spontaneous speech. METHOD: eleven subjects, with ages ranging from 18 to 69 years, were studied. For each dysarthric patient, 3 normal individuals of the same gender and age were evaluated, composing the control group. The speech samples were collected based on a reading of a standardized text and on a two minute conversation. Speech rate was analyzed in terms of words per minute. RESULTS: the analysis of the results demonstrated that in both situations of speech, the dysarthric group presented a statistically significant slower speech rate than the control group. CONCLUSION: the values of speech rate obtained in this study do not agree with other studies carried out in the English language.