Abstract

Development of Verbal Expressive Skills Management Programme (VESMP) for Patients with Brocas Aphasia

Author(s):Humaira Shamim, Sajida Naz, Muhammad Sikander Ghayas Khan

Introduction: Disorders of communication, including aphasia (mainly post stroke) caused by the left hemisphere brain damage, is a major community health issue. The prevalence of aphasia after stroke is 25% in Pakistan in which Broca’s aphasia is predominant in stroke patients who have anterior lesion in the frontal lobe of the left hemispheres. The verbal expressive skills management programme (VESMP) is the software which developed augmented management for patients to enhance verbal expressive skills for patients with severe Broca’s aphasia from different geographic areas. Moreover, the software increases the independencies which are not observed in other traditional techniques. This study is the pathway for maintaining and improving the functional life of patients. Objectives: The main objective was to develop the verbal expressive skills management programme (VESMP) to enhance verbal expressive skills of patients with severe Broca’s aphasia. Methodology: Initially a pilot study with eight cases is carried out. The nonprobability purposive sampling technique was used to recruit the patients with severe aphasia who received therapy through VESMP programme on their smart phones. It contains seven domains: spontaneous speech, comprehension, naming, reading, writing, imitation, and automated speech. The programme was developed in Urdu language and its content was selected from grade three Urdu Punjab text books. The program was then updated with the help of guidance and feedback received from five experts of the relevant field. The patients scoring is recorded for each domain on basis of correct responses. The study was conducted in YUSRA general hospital and Pakistan Railway Hospital, Rawalpindi. The study includes patients that are 40+ years old, and have three months of post stroke with diagnosis of chronic Broca’s Aphasias, patients with severe cognitive impairment were excluded from the study. The pre-and post score was recorded for each domain for the measurement of change. The treatment protocol for each patient lasts for 8 weeks that includes 4 VESMP sessions per week with each session being 30-45 minutes long. Data for each patient was analyzed based on their pre-and post-intervention scores. Results: The scores were computed in terms of mean and standard deviation. The pre-and post-scores of each patient compares separately through which remarkably improvement in all domains. The results also illustrate significant difference (p=0.05) between the preand post-scores on each domain of the programme and show the vital improvement in verbal expressive skills of patients with severe Broca’s aphasia. Conclusion: It is concluded from the results that the development of VESMP programme improved verbal expressive skills of patients with severe Broca’s aphasia.

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