Communication Bridge Speech Therapy Research Study (CB)

The University of Chicago

Status: Completed

Conditions: Primary Progressive Aphasia; Frontotemporal Dementia

Treatments: Behavioral: Monthly Check-in Session

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT02439853

IRB23-1336

Details and patient eligibility

About

This is a study on Internet-based video-practice speech and language therapy for persons with primary progressive aphasia (PPA), behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), or related conditions.

Full description

The purpose of this study is:

1. To evaluate the effectiveness of speech and language therapy on a person's ability to communicate immediately after treatment, 6-months after treatment, and 12-months after treatment.
2. To identify the most effective speech and language therapy strategies for persons with these conditions.
3. To determine the feasibility of Internet-based video-practice of speech and language therapy for persons with these conditions.

The study will involve 12 to 15 session over the course of 12 months. Some of these sessions will be in-person at the Northwestern Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center (Chicago, IL), while others will take place over the Internet, using an online study portal.

Enrollment: 57 patients

Sex: All

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Diagnosis of dementia with language as a primary symptom (i.e. aphasia)
• An informant who knows the participant well and can answer questions the participant's communication ability
• Adequate hearing to follow conversation (correction permitted)
• Adequate vision (correction permitted)

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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57 participants in 2 patient groups

Check-In group

Experimental group

Description:

Subjects in the Check-In group will undergo three check-in sessions with the speech therapist. These sessions will happen remotely, via video-chat, and will last less than an hour. They will occur at 3-, 4-, and 5-months from the subject's enrollment date.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Monthly Check-in Session

Control Arm

No Intervention group

Description:

Subjects in the Control arm will not undergo three check-in sessions with the speech therapist.