NCT04957537

Semantic Rehabilitation for Patients With Primary Progressive Semantic Aphasia

Evaluation of the Effect of a Semantic Rehabilitation in Patients in the Mild to Moderate Stage of Primary Progressive Semantic Aphasia : a SCED Study

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 15 (estimated)
• Sponsor: University Hospital, Toulouse · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 100 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

This project aims to measure the effect of a semantic rehabilitation protocol for patients with primary progressive semantic aphasia and using the SCED methodology.

Detailed description

The damage on the semantic system is at the heart of the clinical picture of semantic primary progressive aphasia (PPA), a neuro-evolutionary pathology. In other words, patients gradually lose access to concepts, general knowledge, word memory and meaning. In the absence of effective pharmacological treatment to reduce the symptoms evoked by patients and improve their quality of life, the arguments in favour of speech and language therapy are multiplying. Numerous lexico-semantic multimodal indication therapies have been described in scientific studies. The most studied is semantic rehabilitation through the analysis of semantic features, which has shown its effectiveness in the context of vascular and post-traumatic aphasia. However, there are only few studies and applications in neuro-evolutionary pathologies such as semantic PPA and those studies are complicated by methodological biases. It has been shown that relearned knowledge is more likely to be retained and transferred to everyday life (generalisation) if the material used is specific to the needs of each individual. Given the heterogeneity of clinical profiles in neuro-evolving pathologies and the inter-individual variability, the personalised approach should be favoured. To evaluate the effect of semantic therapy in patients with semantic PPA, this study therefore proposes to use the SCED (Single Case Experimental Design) methodology. In addition to allowing an individual analysis, this methodology has the advantage of corresponding to a high level of evidence due to the acquisition of repeated measures and the randomisation of the introduction of the treatment.

Conditions

• Primary Progressive Aphasia

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	semantic therapy and semantic re-education	Patients will be followed over two periods "Phase A (randomized, 6 to 8 weeks) - Phase B (5 weeks)". Phase A : Baseline Phase A, which constitutes the control period of semantic therapy, will be composed of lexico-phonological training exercises (Piroux-Davous, 2018). This phase will last 6 to 8 weeks (i.e. 18 to 24 sessions) depending on the randomisation, at the rate of 3 speech therapy sessions of 45 minutes per week. Phase B : Semantic re-education The sessions will consist of training based on the analysis of semantic traits (Coustaut, 2019). This phase will last 5 weeks (i.e. 15 sessions), at the rate of 3 speech therapy sessions of 45 minutes per week. In accordance with the application of the SCED methodology, repeated measurements will be carried out every second session during phases A and B. They will consist of proposing the oral naming task (lasting 10 minutes).

Timeline

• Start date: 2021-09-20
• Primary completion: 2025-09-01
• Completion: 2025-09-01
• First posted: 2021-07-12
• Last updated: 2024-08-02

Locations

1 site across 1 country: France