Speech Therapy for Aphasia: Comparing Two Treatments

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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This is a behavioral speech therapy trial for individuals who have suffered a stroke on the left side of the brain and have difficulty speaking. The name of this disorder is called aphasia. Individuals in this study will receive one of two treatments. The first is a phonological (sound level) treatment and the second is a semantic (word level) treatment. Individuals in both groups will receive 60 hours of therapy for free (2 hours/day, 5 days/week, 6 weeks).

Detailed Description
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Purpose: The ultimate goal of anomia treatment should be to achieve gains in exemplars trained in the therapy session as well as generalization to untrained exemplars and contexts. Phonomotor treatment (PMT) has shown such effects but has not yet been compared to a commonly used lexical/semantic based treatment (semantic feature analysis; SFA). Methods: In a between group randomized controlled trial, 58 persons with aphasia characterized by anomia and phonological dysfunction were randomized to receive 56-60 hours of intensively delivered treatment over 6 weeks with testing pre-, post- and three-months post treatment termination.

Official Title
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A Prospective, Controlled Study of Rehabilitation of Anomia in Aphasia

Conditions
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Stroke

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Semantic Feature Analysis therapy
* Behavioral: Phonomotor Therapy


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Single, left-hemisphere stroke English as primary language prior to stroke Exclusion Criteria: Other neurological disorders Untreated depression

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Phonomotor therapy<br>Experimental group | Behavioral: Phonomotor Therapy<br>* Experimental therapy.<br>|
| Active Comparator: Semantic Feature Analysis therapy<br>Current standard of care therapy | Behavioral: Semantic Feature Analysis therapy<br>* Control therapy; current standard of care therapy<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Spoken Word Production (Confrontation Naming) | Reporting a change in percent correct scores pre-treatment versus 3-months post treatment. (0-100% scale) | Pretreatment to 3 months following treatment termination change | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Response Latency | Change in response latency of confrontation naming pre-treatment versus 3 months post treatment. | Pretreatment to 3 months following treatment termination change | 
| Verbs Correctly Named | Change in confrontation naming of verbs were scored for accuracy and percent correct (0% to 100%) was analyzed before versus 3 months post treatment. | Pretreatment to 3 months following treatment termination change | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Aphasia, Anomia