Speech and Language Rehabilitation of Post-Stroke Aphasia
Agnese Lippi, Cristina Reverberi, Giuseppe Mancini, Federica Lucia Galli
Speech-language rehabilitation for post-stroke aphasia represents an increasingly significant clinical challenge, in light of rising post-stroke survival rates. This article presents the main Italian and international clinical guidelines for the management of aphasia and evaluates the scientific evidence regarding the effectiveness of speech-language interventions. The objective is to provide an updated and integrated overview of clinical recommendations, identifying areas of convergence, divergence, and gaps in the literature. The main national guidelines currently available on this topic are summarized and discussed, including those developed by the Italian Federation of Speech and Language Therapists (FLI, 2009), the Italian Stroke Organization (ISO, 2016), and the Italian Society of Neuropsychology (SINP, 2023). The analysis is further extended through a commentary on a systematic review of international guidelines (Burton et al., 2023), with the aim of examining recommendations related to the management of post-stroke aphasia and assessing the level of evidence supporting speech-language rehabilitation interventions. The reviewed literature supports the effectiveness of speech therapy across the entire clinical course, from the acute to the chronic phase, highlighting the importance of intervention intensity and individualization. However, the overall quality of the evidence remains low, underscoring the need to expand the available scientific evidence, improve the implementation of clinical guidelines in practice, and promote specialized training for speech and language therapists.
Keywords
Post-stroke aphasia; Speech and language rehabilitation; Clinical guidelines review; Rehabilitation effectiveness; Evidence-based practice.
