Stroke: aphasia: the effect of speech and language therapy is unclear

Clinical bottom line (level 1a-)

  1. The role of speech and language therapy for aphasia following a stroke is unclear
Greener et al: Cochrane Library 1999; 4 : -
Expires November 2003

The study

Systematic review of all randomised controlled trials of
  • Patients: aphasia following a stroke
  • Intervention: formal speech and language therapy compared with no treatment, informal support, other types of speech and language therapy
  • Outcome: disability, patient and carer satisfaction

    Articles found in all languages using Cochrane Stroke Group Trials Register, to March 1999 (search terms: detailed in text ) and searching reference lists of relevant articles, and contacting academic institutions and other researchers. The International Journal of Disorders of Communication was hand-searched 1969-1998.

    Selection criteria: by 1 reviewer and checked by another
    Appraisal criteria: by 1 reviewer and checked by another: based on randomisation, concealment of allocation, blinding, treatment differences, intention-to-treat anaylsis
    Articles excluded if:

    12 studies found
    • 2 comparing therapy wtih no support
    • 4 comparing therapy with informal support
    • 2 comparing informal therapy with no support
    • 2 comparing different methods of therapy

    The evidence

    • No differences between the groups were found in any study.

    Comments

    1. Studies were typically of small size (< 200 patients) and only 3 described the method of randomisation.

    Citation

    1. Greener J, Enderby P, Whurr R: speech and language therapy for aphasia following stroke. Cochrane Library 1999; 4 : -
    Search Terms: 'stroke' in Cochrane Library
    Contributor: Chris Ball, November 2001
    Reviewer:

    Clinical Question.
    Patient
    Intervention or Exposure
    Outcome