OBJECTIVE: With the increase in elderly population worldwide, it has been projected that by 2020, more than 40 million people will have motor disorders resulting from Parkinson's disease (PD). Between 60% and 80% of PD patients can exhibit an alteration in oral communication called hyperkinetic dysarthria. Thus, the present study aimed to compare voice parameters between people with PD and healthy individuals. CASE REPORT: The survey had a total of 25 individuals: 13 patients with mild-to-moderate PD and 12 neurologically healthy individuals. Data collection included perceptual and acoustic voice analyses. The perceptual analyses were based on the Dysarthria Assessment Protocol-validated for Brazilian Portuguese-that includes the parameters of respiration, phonation, resonance, articulation, and prosody. The acoustic analyses included habitual fundamental frequency, habitual intensity, length frequency and intensity, maximum phonation time, and the presence of subharmonics. RESULTS: Male (p = 0.028) and female (p = 0.025) PD patients both showed higher habitual fundamental frequency, compared to healthy individuals. The PD patients also showed a longer mean extension intensity (p = 0.039) and a smaller prosody parameter (p = 0.012), compared to healthy individuals. CONCLUSION: Current findings suggest that most of voice parameters are not affected in the early stages of PD. However, the prosody parameter seems to be an aspect of dysarthria that can discriminate PD patients from healthy individuals in the process of aging.
