title: Speech and language therapy for aphasia following subacute stroke.
abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the time window, duration and intensity of optimal speech and language therapy applied to aphasic patients with subacute stroke in our hospital. The study consisted of 33 patients being hospitalized for stroke rehabilitation in our hospital with first stroke but without previous history of speech and language therapy. Sixteen sessions of impairment-based speech and language therapy were applied to the patients, 30-60 minutes per day, 2 days a week, for 8 successive weeks. Aphasia assessment in stroke patients was performed with Gülhane Aphasia Test-2 before and after treatment. Compared with before treatment, fluency of speech, listening comprehension, reading comprehension, oral motor evaluation, automatic speech, repetition and naming were improved after treatment. This suggests that 16 seesions of speech and language therapy, 30-60 minutes per day, 2 days a week, for 8 successive weeks, are effective in the treatment of aphasic patients with subacute stroke.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Ankara Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Engin
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5512-2396
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Koyuncu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Ankara Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Pınar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Çam
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Ankara Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Nermin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Altınok
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Ankara Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Duygu Ekinci
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Çallı
authors.affiliation: Department of Linguistics, Amsterdam Center for Language and Communication, Amsterdam Brain and Cognition Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Tuba Yarbay
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Duman
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Ankara Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Neşe
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Özgirgin
keywords: Gülhane Aphasia Test-2; aphasia; disability; nerve regeneration; neural regeneration; rehabilitation; speech and language therapy; stroke