Long-Term Recovery in Aphasia

Abstract

Language recovery was examined in 108 individuals with aphasia in the chronic phase of recovery who participated in various forms of aphasia treatment over extended periods of time. The Western Aphasia Battery (WAB) was administered at multiple time points and Aphasia Quotient (AQ) scores were used as a measure of language performance over time. As a group, the cohort showed an improvement of +6.52 AQ points, yielding an average rate of change of +4.07 AQ points per year. The rate of change was greatest at earlier times post onset (between three months and two years), and improvement was greatest for individuals with aphasia in the moderate severity range. Age, sex, and fluency did not have a significant effect on recovery. Education level had marginal predictive value in the direction of those with less education showing greater rate of improvement. These results suggest that language recovery continues during the chronic stage for individuals who are involved in some form of rehabilitation activity, especially in individuals with aphasia of moderate severity.