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Comparison of Treatment With Counseling Is Not a Test of Treatment for Aphasia

Comparison of Treatment With Counseling Is Not a Test of Treatment for Aphasia Abstract To the Editor. —Hartman and Landau1 compared "formal language therapy" with "supportive counseling" for aphasia. They did not test the efficacy of language treatment for aphasia. However, their comments and conclusions imply the authors believe they conducted an efficacy study, and, unfortunately, readers may infer that they did.Like most clinical trials, the Hartman and Landau effort contains some flaws. More importantly, their review of the literature contains major errors, and their conclusions are not supported by the results of the study they conducted.First, random assignment of "referred" patients to formal language therapy or supportive counseling does not yield "two randomly selected groups." The authors acknowledge that over 100 of the referred patients were rejected for a variety of reasons, and there were "at least as many very sick and very mildly affected patients who were not referred to us at all." It is appropriate to obtain samples from References 1. Hartman J, Landau WM: Comparison of formal language therapy with supportive counseling for aphasia due to acute vascular accident . Arch Neurol 1987;24:646-649.Crossref 2. Wertz RT, Collins MJ, Weiss D, et al: Veterans Administration cooperative study on aphasia: A comparison of individual and group treatment . J Speech Hear Res 1981;24:580-594. 3. Wertz RT, Weiss DG, Aten JL, et al: Comparison of clinic, home, and deferred language treatment for aphasia: A Veterans Administration cooperative study . Arch Neurol 1986;43:653-658.Crossref 4. Lincoln NB, Mully GP, Jones AC, et al: Effectiveness of speech therapy for aphasic stroke patients: A randomized controlled trial . Lancet 1984;1:1197-1200.Crossref 5. Duffy JR, Keith R: Performance of non-brain-injured adults on the PICA: Descriptive data and comparison to patients with aphasia . Aphasia Apraxia Agnosia 1980;2:1-30. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Archives of Neurology American Medical Association

Comparison of Treatment With Counseling Is Not a Test of Treatment for Aphasia

Archives of Neurology , Volume 45 (4) – Apr 1, 1988

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References (5)

Publisher
American Medical Association
Copyright
Copyright © 1988 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.
ISSN
0003-9942
eISSN
1538-3687
DOI
10.1001/archneur.1988.00520280013004
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Abstract To the Editor. —Hartman and Landau1 compared "formal language therapy" with "supportive counseling" for aphasia. They did not test the efficacy of language treatment for aphasia. However, their comments and conclusions imply the authors believe they conducted an efficacy study, and, unfortunately, readers may infer that they did.Like most clinical trials, the Hartman and Landau effort contains some flaws. More importantly, their review of the literature contains major errors, and their conclusions are not supported by the results of the study they conducted.First, random assignment of "referred" patients to formal language therapy or supportive counseling does not yield "two randomly selected groups." The authors acknowledge that over 100 of the referred patients were rejected for a variety of reasons, and there were "at least as many very sick and very mildly affected patients who were not referred to us at all." It is appropriate to obtain samples from References 1. Hartman J, Landau WM: Comparison of formal language therapy with supportive counseling for aphasia due to acute vascular accident . Arch Neurol 1987;24:646-649.Crossref 2. Wertz RT, Collins MJ, Weiss D, et al: Veterans Administration cooperative study on aphasia: A comparison of individual and group treatment . J Speech Hear Res 1981;24:580-594. 3. Wertz RT, Weiss DG, Aten JL, et al: Comparison of clinic, home, and deferred language treatment for aphasia: A Veterans Administration cooperative study . Arch Neurol 1986;43:653-658.Crossref 4. Lincoln NB, Mully GP, Jones AC, et al: Effectiveness of speech therapy for aphasic stroke patients: A randomized controlled trial . Lancet 1984;1:1197-1200.Crossref 5. Duffy JR, Keith R: Performance of non-brain-injured adults on the PICA: Descriptive data and comparison to patients with aphasia . Aphasia Apraxia Agnosia 1980;2:1-30.

Journal

Archives of NeurologyAmerican Medical Association

Published: Apr 1, 1988

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