AVAILABILITY OF RESEARCH RELATED TO SPEECH PRODUCTION DEFICITS IN ADULTS WITH CEREBRAL PALSY: A REVIEW OF THREE TOP NEUROLOGY

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the availability of research related to speech production in adults with cerebral palsy in three top neurology journals. An electronic search of the journals JAMA Neurology, Neurology, and LancetNeurology was conducted. These journals were picked because of the focus on adults and their high impact factor. The search terms used were “cerebral palsy”, “speech,” “speech disorder,” “rehabilitation,” and “dysarthria.” A total of 623 articles, 158 articles in JAMA Neurology, 341 articles in Neurology, and 124 articles in Lancet Neurology, it was determined that there were 5 relevant articles. There were 0 articles found in JAMA Neurology, 2 articles found in Neurology, and 3 articles found in Lancet Neurology. There is not much literature available on the speech production deficits exhibited by adults with cerebral palsy in top neurology journals where the readership is primarily serving adults with neurological disorders. It is imperative that neurology journals seek out research related to co-morbidities frequently faced by adults with neurodevelopmental disorders for publication and distribution in journals that neurologists frequently read.