Group therapy for dysarthria following stroke and brain injury compared to individual therapy

Not Applicable

• Conditions: dysarthria; stroke; traumatic brain injury; Physical Medicine / Rehabilitation - Speech therapy; Neurological - Other neurological disorders; Stroke - Haemorrhagic; Stroke - Ischaemic; Injuries and Accidents - Other injuries and accidents

• Registration Number: ACTRN12623000737639
• Lead Sponsor: Gold Coast University Hospital

Brief Summary

Not available

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Results First Posted: 1900-01-01
• Study Start: 2023-07-07
• Last Update Posted: 18 July 2023

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: ot yet recruiting
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 24

Inclusion Criteria

There are three participant groups:

1)Dysarthria participants:
Adult inpatients with dysarthria from stroke or acquired brain injury (as diagnosed by a speech pathologist [SP]).

2)Caregiver participants:
Caregivers of participants who have consented to receive treatment in the study and who are proficient in English will be invited to complete two questionnaires.

3) Speech Pathologists:
Approximately 6-8 SPs employed by GCH providing or assessment in the study at the time of the research will be invited to participate.

Exclusion Criteria

1) Dysarthria participants:
Significant aphasia or apraxia of speech that would preclude participation in dysarthria therapy, as judged by the treating SP based on completion of routine language screening. As a guide, participants who have greater than a mild aphasia (i.e., <76 on the Western Aphasia Battery bedside screener) will be excluded.
Diagnosis of dementia, currently in post-traumatic amnesia as documented in the patient’s medical record.
Cognitive impairment impacting on their ability to participate in dysarthria therapy as judged by the treating multi-disciplinary team. As a guide, scores <22 on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA) indicating impairments greater than a mild cognitive impairment will be excluded.
Significant hearing loss (i.e., profound deafness) or perceptual impairment as documented in the medical record that would preclude the participant from interacting in dysarthria therapy.
Very severe dysarthria or anarthria (total loss of speech) which would preclude ability to participate in group-based therapy based on clinical judgement of a SP. As per definition of severe dysarthria from the AUsTOMs, this may include extremely restricted range of phoneme production (e.g., only one sound class such as vowels or extremely limited strength, range and/or rate of oral movements or control.
Not proficient in English prior to onset of dysarthria.

2)Caregiver participants:
Caregivers <18 years or who self-report any health issue which would prevent them from completing a questionnaire will be excluded.

Study & Design

• Study Type: Interventional
• Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Everyday communication rating using the Activity scale of the Australian Therapy Outcome Measure (AusTOMs)[2 x baseline sessions (completed pre-commencement on 2 consecutive days prior to treatment)<br>2 x post assessment sessions (i.e., within approximately 2-3 days of completing the final therapy session for 2 consecutive day)]