Telerehabilitation for Aphasia (TERRA)

Part of paid clinical trials in Columbia, South Carolina.

Sponsor
University of South Carolina
Study ID
NCT04682223
Status
Recruiting
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Conditions

  • Aphasia
  • Stroke
  • Stroke Rehabilitation

Eligibility Criteria

Sex
ALL
Age
21 Years - 80 Years
Healthy Volunteers
Not accepted

Interventions

  • Semantically-focused therapy tasks — BEHAVIORAL
    1\) Semantic feature analysis (SFA; Boyle \& Coelho, 1995; Boyle, 2004). For each pictured stimulus the participant is prompted to name the picture. Then, s/he is encouraged to produce semantically related words that represent features similar to the target word. 2) Semantic barrier task. This approach includes features of the Promoting Aphasics' Communication Effectiveness (PACE; Davis \& Wilcox,1985). The goal of the task is for one participant (e.g., person with aphasia) to describe each card so that the other participant (e.g., clinician) can guess the picture on the card. 3) Verb network strengthening therapy (VNeST; Edmonds et al., 2009; 2014) targets lexical retrieval of verbs and their thematic nouns. The objective of VNeST is for the participant to generate verb-noun associates with the purpose of strengthening the connections between the verb and its thematic roles.
  • Phonologically-focused therapy tasks — BEHAVIORAL
    1\) Phonological components analysis task (PCA; Leonard et al., 2008). The participant first attempts to name a given picture and then to identify the phonological features of the target words. 2) Phonological production task focuses on the identification of phonological features of targeted, imageable nouns and verbs. It requires the participant to sort picture stimuli based on the number of syllables and then to identify a hierarchy of phonological features. Once each targeted feature is identified for the pair of words, the participant is required to blend the syllables/sounds together. 3) Phonological judgment task relies on computerized presentation of verbs and nouns where participants are required to judge whether pairs of words include similar phonological features (e.g. # of syllables, initial phonemes, final phonemes, rhyming).

Study Details

Speech-language therapy is generally found to be helpful in the rehabilitation of aphasia. However, not all patients with aphasia have access to adequate treatment to maximize their recovery. The goal of this project is to compare the efficacy of telerehabilitation or Aphasia Remote Therapy (ART) to the more traditional In-Clinic Therapy (I-CT).

Key Dates

Start date
May 5, 2021
Status verified
Mar 2026
Primary completion
Jan 31, 2027
Completion
Mar 31, 2027

Study Design

Enrollment
100 participants (estimated)
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT

Arms

  • Experimental: Aphasia Remote Therapy (ART)
    All participants in this group will receive 3 weeks of daily semantically-focused treatment (semantic feature analysis, semantic barrier task and verb network strengthening therapy) and 3 weeks of daily phonologically-focused treatment (phonological components analysis, phonological production task, phonological judgment task). Participants will be randomized to order of treatment. All treatment will be done remotely with a speech-language pathologist through an online platform using therapy applications. Participants will be provided with teletherapy kits (including an Internet hotspot if needed) to complete the therapy tasks.
  • Active Comparator: In-Clinic Therapy (I-CT)
    All participants in this group will receive 3 weeks of daily semantically-focused treatment (semantic feature analysis, semantic barrier task and verb network strengthening therapy) and 3 weeks of daily phonologically-focused treatment (phonological components analysis, phonological production task, phonological judgment task). Participants will be randomized to order of treatment. All treatment will be done in person with a speech-language pathologist at the UofSC Aphasia Lab.

Primary Outcome Measure

Speech Production Outcome Score (SPOTS) [ Time Frame: Compare baseline score to 6 month follow-up (after treatment) score. ]

Central Contacts

Locations (1)

FacilityCityStateZIPSite coordinators
University of South Carolina Aphasia LabColumbiaSouth Carolina29201
Sara Sayers, M.S.
[email protected]
803-777-2693
Kelli Powell, B.S.
[email protected]
803-777-5051
Julius Fridriksson, Ph.D (PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR)

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