Domains of Health-Related Quality of Life Are Associated With Specific Deficits and Lesion Locations in Chronic Aphasia.
Elizabeth L Dvorak, Davetrina S Gadson, Elizabeth H Lacey and 2 others
PMID 34018866WHAT IT FOUND
Depression symptoms and arm weakness predicted lower overall quality of life.
Language production deficits predicted lower communication quality. Specific brain lesions in the basal ganglia and inferior frontal areas were linked to poorer physical and psychosocial outcomes.
Key findings
01Depression symptoms and upper-limb motor impairment were significant predictors of lower average quality of life scores.
02Deficits in language production, rather than comprehension, predicted lower scores on the communication domain of quality of life.
03Lesions in the basal ganglia were associated with lower physical quality of life scores, while lesions in the inferior frontal gyrus and anterior insula were associated with lower psychosocial scores.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample size was small, limiting the ability to detect subtle relationships. Depression was measured using a caregiver questionnaire (SADQ), which may reflect caregiver mood rather than patient mood. Motor impairment was only assessed in the upper limbs, ignoring lower limb function which also affects physical quality of life. The SAQOL-39g communication domain items focus on production, so it is unclear if comprehension is truly less important for quality of life or simply not measured by this tool. Lesion mapping only covered left-hemisphere strokes, so results do not apply to right-hemisphere or bilateral lesions.
Declared interests
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that brain lesion location can predict communication quality of life. The study found no significant association between any specific lesion site and the communication domain, only with physical and psychosocial domains.