Picture Description and Functional Communication Rating Correlates in Variants of Primary Progressive Aphasia

Area of Science:

• Neurolinguistics
• Speech-Language Pathology
• Neurodegenerative Diseases

Background:

• Generalizing speech-language pathology treatment is vital for clinical practice and research.
• Functional communication rating scales and connected speech samples are used to assess treatment effects.
• Limited research exists on connected speech in aphasia due to neurodegenerative causes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare correlations between functional communication ratings (CARR-FCS) and connected speech (CUs) versus naming tests (BNT) across primary progressive aphasia (PPA) variants.
• To test the hypothesis that connected speech better correlates with functional communication in svPPA compared to lvPPA and nfaPPA.
• To examine these correlations at baseline and 6-12 month follow-up.

Main Methods:

• Correlations were calculated between CARR-FCS ratings and CTP-BDAE CUs, and between CARR-FCS ratings and BNT scores.
• These correlations were compared between individuals with svPPA, lvPPA, and nfaPPA.
• Data were collected at baseline and follow-up (6-12 months).

Main Results:

• For svPPA, correlations between CUs and CARR-FCS were significantly stronger than between BNT scores and CARR-FCS at both time points.
• No significant differences in correlation strength were found for lvPPA and nfaPPA.
• These results held true at both baseline and follow-up assessments.

Conclusions:

• Connected speech measures are more representative of functional communication in svPPA than confrontation naming.
• Confrontation naming may serve as a proxy for functional communication in lvPPA and nfaPPA.
• Findings highlight the importance of speech-language assessment tailored to specific PPA variants.