Article

Little is known about the efficacy of language production treatment
in subacute severe nonfluent aphasia. Although Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT)
is a language production treatment for this disorder, until now MIT effect
studies have focused on chronic aphasia. Purpose. This study examines whether
language production treatment with MIT is effective in subacute severe nonfluent
aphasia. Methods. A multicenter, randomized controlled trial was conducted in a
waiting-list control design: patients were randomly allocated to the experimental
group (MIT) or the control group (control intervention followed by delayed MIT).
In both groups, therapy started at 2 to 3 months poststroke and was given
intensively (5 h/wk) during 6 weeks. In a second therapy period, the control
group received 6 weeks of intensive MIT. The experimental group resumed their
regular treatment. Assessment was done at baseline (T1), after the first
intervention period (T2), and after the second intervention period (T3). Efficacy
was evaluated at T2. The impact of delaying MIT on therapy outcome was also
examined. Results. A total of 27 participants were included: n = 16 in the
experimental group and n = 11 in the control group. A significant effect in favor
of MIT on language repetition was observed for trained items, with mixed results
for untrained items. After MIT there was a significant improvement in verbal
communication but not after the control intervention. Finally, delaying MIT was
related to less improvement in the repetition of trained material. Conclusions.
In these patients with subacute severe nonfluent aphasia, language production
treatment with MIT was effective. Earlier treatment may lead to greater improvement.
CI - (c) The Author(s) 2014.

Langue : ANGLAIS