Aphasia assessment: impact of material on naming performance

ABSTRACT

Background: Naming and lexical retrieval difficulties are common symptoms of aphasia. Naming abilities are usually evaluated by means of real objects or pictures or line drawings that are printed. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate whether the ability to name objects among individuals with aphasia is influenced by the dimensions of the visual stimuli and to understand whether the order of presentation of the stimuli, number of years of education and length of time post-onset are involved in the success of naming. Methods: The naming abilities of healthy controls and patients with acute or chronic aphasia due to stroke were assessed through presentation of two sets of 24 stimuli consisting of real objects and color photographs of the same objects presented on a screen. The results obtained under these two conditions were compared by means of within-subject paired ANOVA, controlling for presentation order. Results: 40 patients (62.4 ± 17.3 years old; 70% females; mean education level of 8.5 ± 5.3 years; and 60% evaluated within the first eight days after stroke) and 50 controls that were age, gender and education-matched were included. Object naming was significantly better than naming color photographs among the patients (p = 0.001), but no differences were observed among the controls. Age, education, length of time post-onset and presentation sequence did not have any impact on naming performance. Conclusion: These results suggest that use of digital color photographs for naming objects in assessment of aphasia may be associated with lower naming performance, compared with use of real objects. This needs to be taken into account when different forms of stimuli are presented in sequential aphasia evaluations.

RESUMO

Antecedentes: As dificuldades de nomeação e de evocação lexical são sintomas comuns de afasia. A nomeação é geralmente avaliada por objetos reais, imagens ou desenhos de contorno, impressos. Objetivo: Este estudo visa investigar se a capacidade de nomear objetos em pessoas com afasia é influenciada pelas dimensões dos estímulos visuais e compreender se a ordem de apresentação dos estímulos, os anos de escolaridade e o tempo de evolução estão envolvidos no sucesso da nomeação. Métodos: A nomeação de pessoas saudáveis e pessoas com afasia, em fase aguda ou crónica, por AVC foi avaliada com dois conjuntos de 24 estímulos, objetos reais e fotografias a cores, dos mesmos objetos, apresentadas num ecrã. Os resultados obtidos nas duas condições foram comparados por uma ANOVA para amostras emparelhadas, controlando para a ordem de apresentação. Resultados: Foram incluídos 40 sujeitos com afasia (62,4±17,3 anos de idade, 70% mulheres, com uma escolaridade média de 8,5±5,3 anos, 60% avaliados nos primeiros 8 dias após o acidente vascular cerebral) e um grupo de controlo de 50 pessoas saudáveis, emparelhadas para a idade, sexo e escolaridade. A nomeação de objetos foi significativamente melhor do que a nomeação de fotografias a cores (p=.001), mas isso não se verificou nos controles. A idade, a escolaridade, o tempo de evolução e a sequência de apresentação não tiveram impacto na nomeação dos dois tipos de estímulos. Conclusão: Estes resultados sugerem que a utilização de fotografias digitais a cores para avaliar a nomeação de objetos na afasia pode ser associada a um pior desempenho quando comparada com objetos reais. Isto deve ser tido em conta quando são apresentadas diferentes formas de estímulos nas reavaliações.

Keywords:

Aphasia - Language Tests - Neuropsychological Tests

Palavras-chave:

Afasia - Testes de Linguagem - Testes Neuropsicológicos

Authors’ contributions:

All authors made substantial contributions to the design of the study; to collection, analysis and interpretation of data; to writing the paper; and to approval of the final version.

Publication History

Received: 17 August 2020

Accepted: 05 December 2020

Article published online:
01 June 2023

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