The Effect of Music Therapy on Language Recovery in Patients With Aphasia After Stroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Neurological Sciences
Liu, Q., Li, W., et al. (2022).
Neurological Sciences, 43(2), 863-872.
This systematic review and meta-analysis investigates the effects of music-based speech therapy on language recovery in patients with aphasia status post stroke. Of note, all included studies investigate melodic intonation therapy.
Not stated
From database inception to March 2021
Randomized controlled trials and randomized crossover trials
6
Findings demonstrated positive effects of melodic intonation therapy (MIT) on functional communication (MD= 1.45 [0.24, 2.65], p=0.02) , repetition (MD=6.49 [0.97-12.00], p=0.02), and naming (MD=11.44 [1.63-21.26], p=0.02). No significant effects were noted for MIT on comprehension. Of note, MIT was associated with these improvements only in the subacute phase, not the chronic phase of recovery. These results should be interpreted with caution, as between group analyses determined that high-quality studies found no effect of MIT on any domain. Additional limitations include small sample sizes and heterogeneity between studies. Further research is warranted.
