We adapted in French the Frenchay Dysarthria Assessment (FDA) develope
d by P. Enderby in 1983. This tool quantitatively evaluates the organs
involved in speech and provides a measurement of intelligibility. Pro
ductions of normal subjects were analyzed. Reproductibility of data (c
orrelation and interobserver concordance) was high in 18 dysarthric pa
tients. A study performed in 100 dysarthric patients corresponding to
4 types of dysarthria (spastic, ataxic, hypokinetic and mixte) showed
that dysarthria resulted from a global impairment of organs implied in
speech, rather than one specific organ. The reduction in the intellig
ibility score was related to organ impairment.