Hepatic Encephalopathy is Associated With Slow Speech on Objective Assessment

Introduction:There are no available low-burden, point-of-care tests to diagnose, grade, and predict hepatic encephalopathy (HE). Methods:We evaluated speech as a biomarker of HE in 76 English-speaking adults with cirrhosis. Results:Three speech features significantly correlated with the following neuropsychiatric scores: speech rate, word duration, and use of particles. Patients with low neuropsychiatric scores had slower speech (22 words/min, P = 0.01), longer word duration (0.09 seconds/word, P = 0.01), and used fewer particles (0.85% fewer, P = 0.01). Patients with a history of overt HE had slower speech (23 words/min, P = 0.005) and longer word duration (0.09 seconds/word, P = 0.005). Discussion:HE is associated with slower speech. [GRAPHICS] .

Automated summary

There is no available low-burden, point-of-care test to diagnose hepatic encephalopathy (HE). Speech features such as speech rate, word duration, and use of particles were found to significantly correlate with neuropsychiatric scores in patients with cirrhosis. Patients with low neuropsychiatric scores or a history of overt HE exhibited slower speech and longer word duration.