A Systematic Review of Aphasia Therapy Provided in the Early Period of Post-Stroke Recovery
Aphasiology
Husak, R. S., Wallace, S. E., et al. (2023).
Aphasiology, 37(1), 143-176.
This systematic review investigates the effects of different aphasia treatments and the timing and dosage of treatment on language and communication outcomes in adults, 18 years and older, diagnosed with post-stroke aphasia.
No funding received
January 1, 1960 to April 30, 2021
Experimental designs with comparison or control groups
23
Nine studies (four of which were rated high quality) investigating the effect of early aphasia treatment for adults post-stroke reported mixed results. One study indicated that the location of cerebral infarction may cause varying responses to early treatment. None of the studies showed adverse effects from early aphasia treatment. The authors caution that additional research is needed.
Eleven studies (six of which were rated high-quality) comparing communication and/or language outcomes of two or more aphasia treatments found no significant difference in primary outcomes. Impairment-based interventions demonstrated no evidence of greater gains compared with psychosocial or activity-participation-focused interventions. The authors conclude that "current evidence provides equal support for delivering, or combining, restorative and consequence-focused treatments in the early period of recovery" (p. 168).
Five high-quality studies investigating treatment intensity found no difference in primary outcomes between the dosage conditions, while one high-quality study indicated that lower-intensive treatment resulted in significant differences. The authors conclude that "the findings indicate that there is no evidence that increasing treatment intensity from a lower-intensive schedule (2 to 5 h per week) to a higher-intensive schedule (5 to 15 h per week) improves language or communication outcomes in early aphasia therapy" (p. 168).
