Adaptation of melodic intonation therapy to Spanish: a feasibility pilot study

ABSTRACT

Background: Although the effectiveness of melodic intonation therapy (MIT) has been demonstrated in poststroke aphasia, its use in Spanish-speaking countries is practically nonexistent, primarily due to the therapy not having been adapted to Spanish.

Aims: To develop a Spanish version of MIT and to evaluate its feasibility in patients with nonfluent aphasia after an ischemic stroke.

Methods & Procedures: The study was performed in two phases: the first phase involved creation of a Spanish adaptation of MIT; the second phase consisted of a pilot intervention study to analyse its feasibility for use with Spanish patients with poststroke nonfluent aphasia. We recruited patients with aphasia due to a first ischemic stroke more than 6 months before inclusion in the study and who had received a standard programme of conventional language therapy after the stroke. The duration of the MIT was 18 sessions performed over a 6-week period. Each session lasted 30 min per patient and was performed by a language-experienced therapist previously trained in MIT. We used the communicative activity log (CAL) questionnaire and the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination (BDAE) as instruments to measure the change in the communication skills experienced by the patients.

Outcomes & Results: Ten patients were screened and evaluated by a specialist in neuropsychology, and only four met the study criteria. After the therapy, three of the four patients demonstrated improved BDAE results, increasing from an average of 18–36; the CAL average increased from 48.75 to 51.25. These scores were not significant because of the small sample size.

Conclusions: We have developed a Spanish version of MIT that is feasible for use with patients with poststroke nonfluent aphasia and that shows a trend towards speech improvement. Further prospective studies to evaluate its potential efficacy are needed.

KEYWORDS:

• Melodic intonation therapy
• aphasia
• music therapy
• stroke

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the teams of the Neurology, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Departments and the Phoniatric and Speech Therapy Unit at La Paz University Hospital. Editorial assistance was provided by Juliette Siegfried at ServingMED.com.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies.