ASAN 실어증치료프로그램이 실어증환자의 언어능력 향상에 미치는 효과

Effect of ASAN Aphasia Training Program in Acute Aphasia

Purpose: Severity of Aphasia, period of speech therapy, and caregiver’s participation are important factors on recovery of aphasia. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the Asan Medical Center(AMC) aphasia treatment program consisting of direct therapy, caregiver education, and home exercise on Korean individuals in the early phase of recovery from aphasia. Methods: A 20 day/30 minutes a day pre-posttest AMC aphasia treatment program was carried out 1-2 months post onset with 17 Korean individuals with aphasia following a stroke. The study investigated language performance through the standardized test measurement, K-WAB. Results: Results showed significant improvement in posttreatment overall language performance (pretreatment AQ of 36.74 [SD=26.42] vs. posttreatment AQ of 53.28 [SD=29.69]), including fluency, comprehension, repetition and naming. Conclusions: The current study showed that the AMC aphasia treatment program was effective for individuals with acute aphasia. Further studies are required to validate the treatment efficacy by including more participant with various types and severity of aphasia.