MedPath

Treatment for Reading and Writing Deficits Following Acquired Brain Injury

Completed
Conditions
Acquired Brain Injury
Alexia
Agraphia
Interventions
Behavioral: Multicomponent reading and writing treatment
Registration Number
NCT03662243
Lead Sponsor
Quality Living, Inc.
Brief Summary

Many people with acquired brain injuries have deficits in reading decoding, reading comprehension, and written expression. Alexia is a phenomenon in which a person who previously could read has trouble doing so after having sustained a brain injury; likewise, agraphia is an acquired writing problem affecting one or more aspects of written communication. Alexia and agraphia sometimes co-occur with one another and/or with other language challenges, but they can also occur as isolated phenomena. Methods to treat alexia and agraphia often focus on single intervention techniques that address aspects of reading or writing in isolation-such as matching written and spoken letters or letter sounds, performing choral reading, tracing letters, etc. Existing research suggests that the effectiveness of these techniques is limited. However, when used in combination, such techniques may promote improved reading and written communication skills. As such, the purpose of this research is to determine the extent to which a multicomponent intervention program improves the reading and writing capabilities of people with acquired alexia and/or agraphia.

Detailed Description

Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
2
Inclusion Criteria
  • Survivor of acquired brain injury
  • Exhibits alexia and/or agraphia
  • Past or current client of Quality Living, Inc., Omaha, Nebraska
  • Fluent speaker of English
Exclusion Criteria
  • Vision impairment prohibiting reading of 24-point text
  • Auditory comprehension problems precluding understanding of consent/assent information

Study & Design

Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Study Design
Not specified
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Acquired brain injury participantsMulticomponent reading and writing treatmentPeople with acquired alexia and/or agraphia secondary to brain injury who participate in the reading/writing intervention.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Change in score on Word Attack subtest of the Woodcock-Johnson III Test of Achievement.Change from baseline at 8 weeks

Subtest raw sores range from 0 to 32,with higher scores indicating better performance.

Change in score on Word Reading subtest of the Wide Range Achievement Test 4.Change from baseline at 8 weeks

Subtest raw scores range from 0 to 70, with higher scores indicating better performance.

Change in score on Spelling subtest of the Wide Range Achievement Test 4.Change from baseline at 8 weeks

Subtest raw scores range from 0 to 57, with higher scores indicating better performance.

Change in score on Test of Silent Reading Speed and Efficiency.Change from baseline at 8 weeks

Raw scores range from 0 to 70, with higher scores indicating better performance.

Change in score on Passage Comprehension subtest of the Woodcock-Johnson III Test of Achievement.Change from baseline at 8 weeks

Subtest raw scores range from 0 to 47, with higher scores indicating better performance.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Decoding errors during oral reading of passagesAs the first of five tasks of each session for 8 weeks (each session is 1 hour).

Percent of uncorrected word decoding errors in a specified passage. The criterion for progression to subsequent passages is fewer than 5% uncorrected words production errors.

Oral spelling of wordsAs the second of five tasks of each session for 8 weeks (each session is 1 hour).

Number of words spelled correctly on lists containing 15 words each. Introduction of a new word list will occur only after a participant correctly spells all words on the current list.

Sight word decoding accuracyOne time per week for 8 weeks

Percent of correct decoding on 315 words included in Dolch pre-primer, primer, kindergarten, first grade, second grade, third grade, and nouns lists. Each word is scored as correct or incorrect, and a percent correct score is computed based on this scoring.

Oral reading rate of passagesAs the first of five tasks of each session for 8 weeks (each session is 1 hour).

Words per minute (wpm) during independent oral reading of passages. The criteria for progression to subsequent passages is a reading rate of 80wpm or better.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Quality Living, Inc.

🇺🇸

Omaha, Nebraska, United States

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