Combined restorative and compensatory treatment for primary progressive aphasia: a case report

ABSTRACT

Background: Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is aneurodegenerative condition in which isolated language deterioration is the most prominent feature accompanied by relatively preserved cognitive and executive functions.

Aims: This case report describes the response of two participants with PPA to an innovative anomia treatment that combines a restorative and compensatory approach.

Methods & Procedures: This study used a multiple baseline design (ABCAA) that consisted of a pre- test (A), treatment divided into two phases (BC), post- test (A) and a follow- up 1 month after therapy conclusion (A). Stimuli included 80 training items and 80 control items divided into four semantic categories. The items assigned to therapy were selected by each patient and respective spouse. Patients attended one session per week, for 3 months.

Outcomes & Results: After 12 sessions, structured training lead to a significantly increased naming accuracy for therapy items in Case 1, but not Case 2. As opposed to this, successful generalisationonly occurred in Case 2, once improved naming performance was observed for control lexical items. Retention of treated items 1 month after treatment completion was observed in both participants. Globally, the patients considered that their quality of life remained relatively steady throughout the combined anomia treatment.

Conclusions: A combined approach to anomia treatment appears to offer a good scope for word relearning. Additionally, it seems to prepare the patients to the future need for use of Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) devices.

KEYWORDS:

• Primary progressive aphasia
• impaired naming
• anomia treatment
• restorative and compensatory intervention
• quality of life

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Additional information

Funding

This article was supported by National Funds through FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology within CINTESIS, R&D Unit (reference UID/IC/4255/2019).