An Evaluation of a New Nonverbal Treatment for Global Aphasia

NCT02545894 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 13/0581
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 6
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

People with global aphasia (PwGA) post stroke have little to no meaningful communication abilities (ie limited comprehension, spoken language, reading and writing abilities).A proportion of PwGA will also have limited abilities to use any alternative means of communication e.g. gesture, pictures or computer devices. There is a suggestion in the literature that this is because of co-occurring cognitive deficits. The consequence is that these clients are unable to reliably communicate even their basic needs.This is commonly known as having no functional communication abilities. Such PwGA tend not to respond to standard speech and language therapy interventions. This research will investigate the effect of a new cognitive intervention designed to improve basic functional communication abilities. The treatment will be nonverbal and involve computer and paperbased tasks ordered hierarchically from basic to more complex tasks. Six to eight participants will take part. All their sessions will take place in their own home. For some this may be a care home. They will first complete a diagnostic communication assessment in order for baseline abilities to be established. Further formal language and cognitive assessments will be conducted over a period of 6 weeks. A relative/friend will complete a questionnaires about mood/communication. The PwGA will also be videoed interacting with the research student e.g. looking at a magazine, completing a jigsaw, answering questions and making choices non-verbally. The participants then receive the new intervention 3 times a week for 6 consecutive weeks. All intervention sessions will be videoed. Then participants will be reassessed over 2 weeks using the same assessments as prior to the intervention. The questionnaire with their relative/friend and videoed activity session will also be repeated. After a twelve week break the participant will be videoed interacting with the research student complete some of the assessments again and their relative will re-complete the questionnaires.

Conditions

Stroke

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• American Speech and Hearing Association -Functional Assessment of Communication

  Questionnaire completed by friend/relative

  27 weeks

• Constructed Interaction Task

  video recorded interaction

  27 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (6)

• Aphasia Screening Test

  14 weeks

• Mood Screen

  27 weeks

• Pyramids and Palm Trees Test

  27 weeks

• Wisconsin Card Sorting Test

  14 weeks

• Butt Non verbal reasoning test

  27 weeks

Study Arms (3)

BASELINE TESTING

NO INTERVENTION

Language and cognitive assessments conducted

Treatment

EXPERIMENTAL

Intervention given: visual tracking pressing a button every time a picture is seen on the screen * playing dominoes and snap * pressing a button every time a specific picture is seen on the screen * Pressing a button every time a specific sound is heard * Matching objects to a picture * Matching gestures to objects * Matching two connected objects * Sorting objects by categories * Matching sounds to objects * "Complete the category" and "odd on out with objects" * Choosing target objects by pointing * Choosing objects to complete the category by pointing

Behavioral: Cognitive therapy

Post intervention

NO INTERVENTION

Repeated testing

Interventions

Cognitive therapy BEHAVIORAL

The tasks are: * visually tracking a picture as it moves across the computer screen * pressing a button every time a picture is seen on the screen * pressing a button every time a specific picture is seen on the screen * Pressing a button every time a specific sound is heard * Matching objects to a picture * Matching gestures to objects * Matching two connected objects * Sorting objects by categories * Matching sounds to objects * "Complete the category" and "odd on out with objects" * Choosing target objects by pointing * Choosing objects to complete the category by pointing

Treatment

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• have global aphasia as diagnosed by an SLT
• have little or no verbal output
• inconsistent single word comprehension
• little or no ability to read or write
• little or no ability to use alternative modes of communication
• Little or no ability to make choices in function
• no diagnosis/history of a progressive neurological condition
• no diagnosis of hearing loss
• no diagnosis/history of a mental health condition
• English as a first language

You may not qualify if:

• has another form of aphasia
• is able to consistently express basic needs non-verbally or verbally.
• is able to participate in communicative interaction with a familiar other
• has a history of a progressive neurological condition
• has hearing loss
• has a diagnosis/history of a mental health condition
• does not have English as a first language.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University College, London: lead

Study Sites (1)

University College London, Research Dept of Language and Cognition

London, WC1N, United Kingdom

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Stroke

Interventions

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Cerebrovascular Disorders; Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Vascular Diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior Therapy; Psychotherapy; Behavioral Disciplines and Activities

Study Officials

• Suzanne Beeke, PhD

  UCL

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 22, 2015
• First Posted: September 10, 2015
• Study Start: December 1, 2014
• Primary Completion: June 1, 2016
• Study Completion: December 1, 2016
• Last Updated: January 29, 2020

Record last verified: 2020-01

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

GB (1)