The Efficacy of Computer-Provided Reading Treatment for Chronic Aphasic Adults

katz.richard{at}phoenix.va.gov

We examined the effects of computer-provided reading activities on language performance in chronic aphasic patients. Fifty-five aphasic adults were assigned randomly to one of three conditions: computer reading treatment, computer stimulation, or no treatment. Subjects in the computer groups used computers 3 hours each week for 26 weeks. Computer reading treatment software consisted of visual matching and reading comprehension tasks. Computer stimulation software consisted of nonverbal games and cognitive rehabilitation tasks. Language measures were administered to all subjects at entry and after 3 and 6 months. Significant improvement over the 26 weeks occurred on five language measures for the computer reading treatment group, on one language measure for the computer stimulation group, and on none of the language measures for the notreatment group. The computer reading treatment group displayed significantly more improvement on the Porch Index of Communicative Ability "Overall" and "Verbal" modality percentiles and on the Western Aphasia Battery Aphasia "Quotient" and "Repetition" subtest than the other two groups. The results suggest that (a) computerized reading treatment can be administered with minimal assistance from a clinician, (b) improvement on the computerized reading treatment tasks generalized to non-computer language performance, (c) improvement resulted from the language content of the software and not stimulation provided by a computer, and (d) the computerized reading treatment we provided to chronic aphasic patients was efficacious.

KEY WORDS: aphasia, treatment, efficacy, computers

Submitted on October 10, 1995
Accepted on November 20, 1996

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Facebook    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. M.D. Archibald, J. B. Orange, and D. J. Jamieson Implementation of computer-based language therapy in aphasia Therapeutic Advances in Neurological Disorders, September 1, 2009; 2(5): 299 - 311. [Abstract] [PDF]

				L. R. Cherney, A. S. Halper, A. L. Holland, and R. Cole Computerized Script Training for Aphasia: Preliminary Results Am J Speech Lang Pathol, February 1, 2008; 17(1): 19 - 34. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. Ramsberger and B. Marie Self-Administered Cued Naming Therapy: A Single-Participant Investigation of a Computer-Based Therapy Program Replicated in Four Cases Am J Speech Lang Pathol, November 1, 2007; 16(4): 343 - 358. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. Bates, J. Y. Choi, P. W. Duncan, J. J. Glasberg, G. D. Graham, R. C. Katz, K. Lamberty, D. Reker, and R. Zorowitz Veterans Affairs/Department of Defense Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Adult Stroke Rehabilitation Care: Executive Summary Stroke, September 1, 2005; 36(9): 2049 - 2056. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. W. Duncan, R. Zorowitz, B. Bates, J. Y. Choi, J. J. Glasberg, G. D. Graham, R. C. Katz, K. Lamberty, and D. Reker Management of Adult Stroke Rehabilitation Care: A Clinical Practice Guideline Stroke, September 1, 2005; 36(9): e100 - e143. [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Meinzer, D. Djundja, G. Barthel, T. Elbert, and B. Rockstroh Long-Term Stability of Improved Language Functions in Chronic Aphasia After Constraint-Induced Aphasia Therapy Stroke, July 1, 2005; 36(7): 1462 - 1466. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. J.C. Doesborgh, M. W.E. van de Sandt-Koenderman, D. W.J. Dippel, F. van Harskamp, P. J. Koudstaal, and E. G. Visch-Brink Effects of Semantic Treatment on Verbal Communication and Linguistic Processing in Aphasia After Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Trial Stroke, January 1, 2004; 35(1): 141 - 146. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. Pulvermuller, B. Neininger, T. Elbert, B. Mohr, B. Rockstroh, P. Koebbel, and E. Taub Constraint-Induced Therapy of Chronic Aphasia After Stroke Stroke, July 1, 2001; 32(7): 1621 - 1626. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. B. Aftonomos, J. S. Appelbaum, and R. D. Steele Improving Outcomes for Persons With Aphasia in Advanced Community-Based Treatment Programs Stroke, July 1, 1999; 30(7): 1370 - 1379. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]