The Therapeutic Effect of Neurologic Music Therapy and Speech Language Therapy in Post-Stroke Aphasic Patients

Lim, K.B., Kim, Y.K, Lee, H.J., Yoo, J. Hwang, J. Y., Kim, J.A., & Kim, S.K. (2013). The Therapeutic Effect of Neurologic Music Therapy and Speech Language Therapy in Post-Stroke Aphasic Patients. Annals of Rehabilitation Medicine, 37(4), 556-562.

Abstract:

This article aims to investigate the therapeutic effect of neurologic music therapy (NMT) and speech language therapy (SLT) through improvement of the aphasia quotient (AQ) in post-stroke aphasic patients. Twenty-one post-stroke, nonfluent aphasia patients who had ischemic/hemorrhagic stroke on radiologic evaluation were divided into the NMT and SLT groups. They received NMT and SLT for one month. Language function was assessed by Korean version-Western Aphasia Battery before and after therapy. NMT consisted of therapeutic singing and melodic intonation therapy, and SLT consisted of language-oriented therapy. Significant improvements were revealed in AQ, repetition, and naming after therapy in the NMT group. The SLT group of chronic stroke patients also showed improvements in repetition. There were significant improvements in language ability in the NMT group of subacute stroke patients. However, there was no significant improvement in the SLT group of subacute stroke patients. The article concludes that the two therapies are effective treatments in the chronic stage of stroke and NMT is effective in subacute post-stroke aphasic patients.

Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.libproxy.wlu.ca/pmc/articles/PMC3764351/#__ffn_sectitle