Lo studio «PARLA». Esame del Linguaggio al Letto del Malato (ELLM) e Aachener Aphasie Test (AAT) a confronto
Falocci Nicola, Gallì Irene, Gori Maria Antonella, Paciaroni Maurizio, Peccini Sandra, Raimondo Simona, Revolon Ilaria, Signorini Grazia
Early assessment of communicative disorders in stroke patients is recommended to maximise rehabilitation gains. Our study aims to evaluate the correlation between Esame del Linguaggio al Letto del Malato (ELLM) — a bedside examination — and Aachener Aphasie Test subtest and to determine the level of agreement between ELLM and AAT in diagnosing aphasic syndromes. 50 acute stroke aphasic patients, hospitalised in Perugia, Turin and Empoli, were recruited. ELLM was administered in the acute phase, within 15 days of stroke onset; AAT was performed 30 days on from the brain injury. We observed a positive correlation between ELLM and AAT for all examined parameters (r ≥ 0.7) except for Naming and Oral Comprehension. We found that the two tests showed a good agreement in diagnosing non-fluent forms of aphasia. Regarding fluent forms, the agreement between ELLM and AAT was weaker. Despite this, ELLM remains a reliable tool for assessing aphasia in acute stroke patients.
Keywords
Acute stroke, Aphasia, Standardised diagnostic tools, Early assessment.
