Does Gesture Improve the Communication Success of People with Aphasia? A Systematic Review

Background: Speakers with aphasia gesture, but the extent to which these gestures improve their communication success is unclear. Aim: The primary aim is to assess if gesture improves the communication success of people with aphasia using a systematic review. Methods & Procedures: Following the PRISMA protocol, we systematically reviewed the literature assessing the contribution of gesture to the communication success of people with aphasia. Multiple electronic databases were searched using specified keywords and MeSH explode. This identified 2177 articles, seven of which met our inclusion criteria. Outcomes & Results: The included articles were reviewed in the context of three research questions, which concluded that: (1) the communication success of gesture is compromised in people with aphasia when compared to healthy language users, (2) gesture improves the communication success of people with aphasia beyond spoken language alone, and 3) apraxia severity impedes the communication success of gesture, whereas aphasia severity and semantic processing deficits do not. Conclusions: This systematic review clarifies inconsistencies in the literature and confirms that gesture can improve the communication success of people with aphasia. This supports the continued use of gesture as a therapeutic intervention for people with aphasia.