Constraint-induced aphasia therapy for patients with aphasia: A systematic review.
Guandong Wang, Li Ge, Qingxiang Zheng and 2 others
PMID 32817859WHAT IT FOUND
Constraint-induced aphasia therapy did not clearly beat usual speech therapy on naming tests or Aachen scores.
Western Aphasia Battery total and naming improved, but results were mixed and based on small trials.
Key findings
01In three trials using the Boston Naming Test, CIAT did not significantly improve naming compared with control.
02In two trials using the Western Aphasia Battery, total severity scores and naming were better with CIAT, while oral language was not.
03Pooled Aachen Aphasia Test scores and its token test, comprehension, repetition, written language and naming subtests showed no significant difference.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Only 12 small randomised trials were included, with 493 participants across studies. Random sequence generation was described in only nine studies, and allocation concealment in only three, so selection bias may have inflated effects. Blinding was limited. Only two studies reported blinding of participants and personnel, and eight reported blinding of outcome assessment. Only four studies reported dropout rates, although all described dropout and exclusion cases. Several trials used different outcome measures, so six studies could not be pooled. The review included only English and Chinese studies. This may introduce language bias. All included studies were rated grade B because they only partially met quality standards.
Declared interests
The study received no specific funding, and the authors declared no potential conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that CIAT is proven better than usual speech therapy for aphasia. The pooled Boston Naming Test and Aachen Aphasia Test results were not significant, and the positive Western Aphasia Battery finding came from two small trials with mixed descriptive results.