Intensive aphasia therapy improves low mood in fluent post-stroke aphasia: Evidence from a case-controlled study

Introduction: Depressive symptoms are a major drawback of aphasia, negatively impacting on functional outcomes. In a previous study, Intensive Language-Action Therapy (ILAT) was effective in improving depression and low mood in persons with chronic non-fluent aphasia. We present a proof-of-concept case–control study that evaluates language and mood outcomes amongst persons with fluent post-stroke aphasia. Participants: Thirteen Spanish speaking persons with fluent aphasia due to chronic stroke lesions in the left hemisphere participated in the study. Intervention: Five participants (intervention group) received ILAT for 3 h/day during two consecutive weeks, for an overall of 30 h, and 8 participants (control group) entered a waiting-list no-treatment arm. Results: The main finding was that participants receiving active treatment showed significant improvements on depression and aphasia severity scores, whereas no significant changes were found in the control group. Conclusions: The implementation of ILAT was efficient in improving clinical language deficits in people with fluent aphasia and contributes to improvement in mood after therapy. Trial registration: EUDRACT (2008-008481-12).