Effects of Gesture Plus Verbal Treatment (GVT) in Cantonese Speakers With Aphasia

NCT07455162 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: EA240609
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 90
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This research aims to explore the relative efficacy of Verbal-only and GVT on naming difficulty in Cantonese-speaking people with aphasia (PWA). The primary research question in this study is: "For Cantonese-speaking people with aphasia, what are the relative effects of verbal treatment compared to gesture plus verbal treatment (GVT) on verbal and gesture naming at different levels?" People with aphasia will be engaged in a repeated measures experimental design. Participants will be engaged in two phases of training. In the first phase, participants will be assigned to receive verbal-only treatment. To minimize and prevent the carry-over effects caused by the first intervention, a one-month washout period will be implemented before the start of the second phase. After a washout period, participants will switch to GVT in the second phase.

Conditions

Aphasia; Gestures

Keywords

Aphasia; Gesture; Rehabilitation

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Changes in the scores of the Naming Probes

  The treatment effects on naming will be assessed through verbal naming and gesture production using the black and white drawing naming task. Responses will be counted as correct if they can be identified by the rater as the target word in verbal naming and convey the depicted concept through gesture production, even if the articulation or hand and arm movements are slightly distorted.

  From enrollment to the end of treatment at 4 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• Changes in the scores of the Cantonese Aphasia Battery

  From enrollment to the end of treatment at 4 weeks

• Changes in the scores of the Comprehensive Aphasia Test

  From enrollment to the end of treatment at 4 weeks

• Changes in the scores of the Cantonese Boston Naming Test

  From enrollment to the end of treatment at 4 weeks

• Changes in the number of main concepts and gestures in discourse production tasks

  From enrollment to the end of treatment at 4 weeks

• Changes in the scores of the Functional Communication questionnaire

  From enrollment to the end of treatment at 4 weeks

Study Arms (2)

Verbal-only

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

This is a within-subject comparison study where each participant receives both interventions sequentially. During the first phase, participants receive verbal-only therapy (VT). In the subsequent phase, they receive Gesture verbal treatment (GVT). The order of interventions is fixed, and each participant acts as their own control to compare the effects of the two interventions.

Behavioral: Verbal treatment

Gesture plus Verbal

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

This is a within-subject comparison study where each participant receives both interventions sequentially. During the first phase, participants receive verbal-only therapy (VT). In the subsequent phase, they receive Gesture verbal treatment (GVT). The order of interventions is fixed, and each participant acts as their own control to compare the effects of the two interventions.

Behavioral: Gesture plus verbal treatment

Interventions

Verbal treatment BEHAVIORAL

This study will involve the following naming interventions: 1) Semantic Features Analysis, 2) Modified Ortho-phonological cueing therapy and Phonological Component Analysis, and 3) Repetition with Cueing Hierarchy.

Verbal-only

Gesture plus verbal treatment BEHAVIORAL

This study will involve the following interventions: 1\) Combined Semantic and Gesture treatment, 2) Combined Phonological and Gesture treatment, and 3) Combined Repetition and Gesture treatment.

Gesture plus Verbal

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• Diagnosed with aphasia
• Demonstrate Word finding Difficulty (WFD)
• Able to repeat single words
• Normal (or corrected) vision and hearing
• Aphasia resulting from a unilateral left hemisphere stroke
• Premorbidly fluent in spoken Cantonese
• Without significant cognitive impairments
• Chronic aphasia resulting from a unilateral left hemisphere stroke

You may not qualify if:

• A history of other neurological disorders
• With the above moderate to severe or severe motor speech impairment
• With moderate to severe apraxia of speech
• With very mild or very severe aphasia

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Hong Kong University: lead

Study Sites (1)

The University of Hong Kong

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

RECRUITING

Related Publications (7)

• Yiu, E. M-L. (1992). Linguistic assessment of Chinese-speaking aphasics: Development of a Cantonese aphasia battery. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 7(4), 379-424. https://doi.org/10.1016/0911-6044(92)90025-R

  BACKGROUND

• Lau, S. W. -H. (2001). The Cantonese FACS feasibility with aphasic patients in Hong Kong. Unpublished bachelor dissertation, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.

  BACKGROUND

• Kong, A. P.-H., & Wang, C. (2016). Main concept analysis (MCA) for oral discourse production. In. Hong Kong: The Commercial Press H.K Ltd.

  BACKGROUND

• Kong, A. P.-H., & Ng, C. Y.-T. (2022). Psycholinguistic Considerations for Adapting the Cantonese Version of Comprehensive Aphasia Test (Cant-CAT): A Feasibility Study. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, 7(4), 1211-1222. https://doi.org/doi:10.1044/2022_PERSP-22-00044

  BACKGROUND

• Kong AP, Law SP. A linguistic communication measure for monitoring changes in Chinese aphasic narrative production. Clin Linguist Phon. 2009 Apr;23(4):255-69. doi: 10.1080/02699200802673234.

  PMID: 19382013 BACKGROUND

• Cheung RW, Cheung MC, Chan AS. Confrontation naming in Chinese patients with left, right or bilateral brain damage. J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2004 Jan;10(1):46-53. doi: 10.1017/S1355617704101069.

  PMID: 14751006 BACKGROUND

• Kong, A. P.-H., Hu, A. Z., Wong, C. C.-T., & Wong, C. W.-Y. (2025). Effects of modified word and sentence level gesture plus verbal treatment (GVT) in Cantonese speakers with aphasia. Aphasiology, 1-32. https://doi.org/10.1080/02687038.2025.2540297

  BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Aphasia; Gestures

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Speech Disorders; Language Disorders; Communication Disorders; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Kinesics; Nonverbal Communication; Communication; Behavior

Study Officials

• Anthony Pak Hin Professor Kong

  The University of Hong Kong

  STUDY CHAIR

Central Study Contacts

Annie Zhiyao Hu

CONTACT

852-6068-8312; annie920@connect.hku.hk

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: SEQUENTIAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Model Details: Participants will be engaged in two phases of training. In the first phase, participants will be assigned to receive verbal-only treatment. To minimize and prevent the carry-over effects caused by the first intervention, a one-month washout period will be implemented before the start of the second phase. After a washout period, participants will switch to GVT in the second phase.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 24, 2026
• First Posted: March 6, 2026
• Study Start: April 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): September 1, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): September 1, 2028
• Last Updated: March 11, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-02

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

HK (1)