2015 | Paola Andrade-Calderón, Judith Salvador-Cruz, Ana Luisa Sosa-Ortiz
This study examines the positive impact of intensive speech therapy on a patient with progressive non-fluent aphasia (PNFA). PNFA is a dementia syndrome characterized by progressive deficits in expressive language fluency and syntactic analysis, along with agrammatism and phonemic paraphasias. The study involved a 84-year-old male patient who received 12 months of weekly speech therapy to stimulate phonological, lexical, and syntactic processing. Neuropsychological assessments were conducted at three stages: six months before therapy, six months after therapy started, and after 12 months of intervention. The assessments evaluated linguistic processing, general cognition, neuropsychiatric symptoms, quality of life (QOL), and activities of daily living (ADL). The results showed slight improvements in language prosody, fluency, and content of spontaneous speech, and significant improvements in repetition, reading aloud, and oral-phonatory praxis. Other cognitive functions remained stable, while ADLs and QOL improved. The study concludes that prolonged speech therapy can improve language processing and have a positive impact on other cognitive and socio-emotional processes in PNFA. The 12-month therapeutic stimulation not only slowed cognitive decline but also allowed for the maintenance of achievements and improvement of symptoms, which is considered a success in PNFA treatment due to the rapid progression of the disease. The study highlights the importance of designing and implementing systematic speech therapy programs for PNFA patients that can improve language processing, general cognition, and socio-emotional areas. The results suggest that such programs can have a positive impact on the patient's quality of life and their family's environment. The study also emphasizes the need for further research to determine the long-term effects of speech therapy on PNFA patients and to explore the potential benefits of combining speech therapy with other interventions.This study examines the positive impact of intensive speech therapy on a patient with progressive non-fluent aphasia (PNFA). PNFA is a dementia syndrome characterized by progressive deficits in expressive language fluency and syntactic analysis, along with agrammatism and phonemic paraphasias. The study involved a 84-year-old male patient who received 12 months of weekly speech therapy to stimulate phonological, lexical, and syntactic processing. Neuropsychological assessments were conducted at three stages: six months before therapy, six months after therapy started, and after 12 months of intervention. The assessments evaluated linguistic processing, general cognition, neuropsychiatric symptoms, quality of life (QOL), and activities of daily living (ADL). The results showed slight improvements in language prosody, fluency, and content of spontaneous speech, and significant improvements in repetition, reading aloud, and oral-phonatory praxis. Other cognitive functions remained stable, while ADLs and QOL improved. The study concludes that prolonged speech therapy can improve language processing and have a positive impact on other cognitive and socio-emotional processes in PNFA. The 12-month therapeutic stimulation not only slowed cognitive decline but also allowed for the maintenance of achievements and improvement of symptoms, which is considered a success in PNFA treatment due to the rapid progression of the disease. The study highlights the importance of designing and implementing systematic speech therapy programs for PNFA patients that can improve language processing, general cognition, and socio-emotional areas. The results suggest that such programs can have a positive impact on the patient's quality of life and their family's environment. The study also emphasizes the need for further research to determine the long-term effects of speech therapy on PNFA patients and to explore the potential benefits of combining speech therapy with other interventions.