Background
Post-stroke aphasia (PSA) is an acquired communication disease caused by cerebrovascular disease that damages the language center of the dominant hemisphere of the brain. Patients with PSA usually have difficulty remembering words or lose the ability to speak, read, comprehend, or write. PSA is one of the most common and devastating symptoms of stroke. The patient’s psychological, social, and daily lives are profoundly affected by this communication barrier. The self-recovery of language function in aphasia patients is very limited. Chinese idioms have the potential to act as introductory training material in studies on post-stroke aphasia.
Methods
- A randomized controlled trial was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of speech training through Chinese idioms.
- The patients with non-fluent PSA were recruited.
- The patients >18 years, whose native language is Chinese, have clear consciousness, stable condition, and no cognitive impairment were included in the study.
- The patients suffering from other serious diseases, having a visual defect, hearing impairment, dysarthria, and speech apraxia were excluded.
- Participants were randomly assigned to groups I and II.
- Patients in the group I had treatment with extended speech training based on Chinese idioms.
- Patients in group II had treatment with conventional speech rehabilitation training.
- The training period in both groups was 40 min daily for 2 weeks.
Results
- A total of 70 patients (group I, n=34; group II, n=36) completed the trial and were examined according to protocol.
- There were no substantial differences in baseline values between both groups.
- After the intervention, the scores of oral expression, comprehension, and reading in the Aphasia battery of the Chinese scale and the scores of the comprehensive activities of the daily living questionnaire significantly improved in both groups, with group I benefiting more (P<0.05).
Conclusion
The result of this randomized controlled trial indicates that idiom rehabilitation training can improve language function and daily communication ability in patients with non-fluent PSA, which is feasible and effective.