Abstract
Objectives
To update a previous systematic review describing the effect of communication partner
training on individuals with aphasia and their communication partners, with clinical
questions addressing effects of partner training on language, communication activity/participation,
psychosocial adjustment, and quality of life.
Data Sources
Twelve electronic databases were searched using 23 search terms. References from relevant
articles were hand searched.
Study Selection
Three reviewers independently reviewed abstracts, excluding those that failed to meet
inclusion criteria. Thirty-two full text articles were reviewed by 2 independent reviewers.
Articles not meeting inclusion criteria were eliminated, resulting in a corpus of
25 articles for full review.
Data Extraction
For the 25 articles, 1 reviewer extracted descriptive data regarding participants,
intervention, outcome measures, and results. A second reviewer verified the accuracy
of the extracted data.
Data Synthesis
The 3-member review team classified studies using the American Academy of Neurology
levels of evidence. Two independent reviewers evaluated each article using design-specific
tools to assess research quality.
Conclusions
All 25 of the current review articles reported positive changes from partner training.
Therefore, to date, 56 studies across 2 systematic reviews have reported positive
outcomes from communication partner training in aphasia. The results of the current
review are consistent with the previous review and necessitate no change to the earlier
recommendations, suggesting that communication partner training should be conducted
to improve partner skill in facilitating the communication of people with chronic
aphasia. Additional high-quality research is needed to strengthen the original 2010
recommendations and expand recommendations to individuals with acute aphasia. High-quality
clinical trials are also needed to demonstrate implementation of communication partner
training in complex environments (eg, health care).
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
AAN (American Academy of Neurology), PEDro (Physiotherapy Evidence Database), PWA (persons with aphasia), SCED (Single Case Experimental Design)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 23, 2016
Footnotes
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
