NCT02332915

Treatment Intensity - Apraxia of Speech

Effect of Intensity of Treatment on Rehabilitation of Acquired Apraxia of Speech

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 36 (actual)
• Sponsor: VA Office of Research and Development · Federal
• Sex: All
• Age: 21 Years – 90 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

A growing neurorehabilitation literature suggests that intense treatment may be desired to maximize the effects of therapy following neurologic injury. This investigation is designed to facilitate the development of efficacious, clinically applicable treatment for acquired apraxia of speech by examining the effects of intensity of treatment (e.g., 9 hours per week vs. 3 hours per week, while holding total number of sessions constant) with a group of speakers who have chronic apraxia of speech and aphasia.

Detailed description

This research was designed to examine the effects of treatment intensity on outcomes associated with an established treatment for acquired apraxia of speech (AOS). Intensity in the form of dose frequency and total intervention duration was evaluated with Sound Production Treatment (SPT). The investigators examined the effects of intense dose frequency (nine, one-hour sessions per week) and traditional dose frequency (three, one hour sessions per week). Total number of treatment sessions was held constant allowing for comparison of total intervention duration (27 sessions over 3 weeks versus 27 sessions over 9 weeks). A two-phase, group cross-over design was used. Thirty-six participants with chronic aphasia and AOS were recruited. Twenty-four participants completed then entire study and were quasi-randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups - intense first or traditional first (12 per group). One group received SPT applied with intense dose frequency (SPT-I) followed by SPT applied with traditional dose frequency (SPT-T). The other group received the treatments in the reverse order (SPT-T followed by SPT-I). A two week no treatment interval separated the treatment phases. The outcomes of interest addressed changes in trained and untrained speech behaviors.

Conditions

• Aphasia
• CVA
• Apraxia of Speech

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Sound Production Treatment (SPT)	SPT is a behavioral treatment for acquired apraxia of speech. It involves verbal modeling of target words by the clinician, simultaneous productions, articulatory placement instructions, and repeated practice. Treatment is administered in the context of an hierarchy.

Timeline

• Start date: 2015-05-01
• Primary completion: 2019-10-10
• Completion: 2019-10-10
• First posted: 2015-01-07
• Last updated: 2022-07-12
• Results posted: 2020-11-17

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: United States