Assessing naturalistic communication in Parkinson’s disease: A passive audio capture study

BACKGROUND Parkinson’s disease (PD) affects motor control including the movements necessary for speech production, which can impair everyday communication. However, less is known about how these impairments manifest in naturalistic conversational contexts. METHODS Conversational behavior was examined in people with Parkinson’s disease (PWPD) and healthy controls (HCs) using passive audio recordings collected in natural environments. Conversational samples were analyzed for time in the vicinity of conversation (i.e., presence within conversational interaction), average conversation length, sentence purpose, conversation initiation, and thematic content. These ecologically valid metrics allowed for direct comparison between groups using consistent observational methods. RESULTS PWPD spend significantly less time in the vicinity of conversation than HCs. No statistically significant differences were observed between groups in average conversation length, sentence purpose, or conversation initiation. Qualitative analysis revealed differences in conversational themes, with PWPD more likely to engage in home-based topics. CONCLUSION These results suggest that reduced time in conversational environments for PWPD may be driven more by environmental and social factors than by conversational ability. This study contributes to the growing body of literature advocating for ecologically grounded communication research in neurological populations.