Intervention for Communication Quality of Life in Primary Progressive Aphasia

Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age40+
SponsorMaya Henry

About this trial

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether a personalized, multi-component, virtual speech language treatment program can improve communication and quality of life for adults with primary progressive aphasia (PPA) and their primary communication partners. The study will enroll participants who speak English and/or Spanish.

The main questions the study aims to answer are:

* Is the telerehabilitation program feasible and acceptable for people with PPA and their study partners? * Do participants with PPA and study partners find treatment beneficial? * What patterns of treatment response are seen in participants? * Which outcome measures are most useful for evaluating changes in communication and quality of life?

Researchers will compare participants who receive intervention immediately to participants assigned to a waitlist control group (who will receive treatment after a delay) to see whether participation in the treatment program is associated with improvements in communication and quality of life.

Participants will:

* Take part in speech language therapy sessions delivered by video visit that combine restorative, compensatory, and partner-focused communication strategies. Treatment may take place after a waiting period. * Receive education and communication training together with their partner. * Complete speech, language, and cognitive assessments. * Complete questionnaires about communication abilities, daily functioning, and quality of life.

Eligibility criteria

Qualifiers

A PPA (Gorno-Tempini et al., 2011) or "PPA-plus" (Mesulam et al., 2001) diagnosis

MMSE score of 15 or higher and must be able to produce single monosyllabic words intelligibly

Must speak English, Spanish or both languages (i.e., bilingual speakers of English or Spanish)

Hearing and vision adequate for participation in teleconference meetings

Disqualifiers

Other central nervous system or medical diagnosis that can account for symptoms

Psychiatric diagnosis that can account for symptoms

Trial design

Treatments tested in this trial

  • Multicomponent Lexical Retrieval Cascade Training
  • Multicomponent Video Implemented Script Training in Aphasia

Treatment groups

30 Participants
are divided into 2 treatment groups

Sponsors and collaborators

Maya Henry

Lead sponsor

University of Texas at Austin

Sponsor institution

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Collaborator

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Collaborator