Article

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the occurrence of semantic, phonological and syntactic
deficits in acute aphasia with the ScreeLing after the establishment of its
psychometric properties. To examine the relationship between these deficits and:
(i) overall aphasia severity; and (ii) quality of Spontaneous Speech. METHODS:
The reliability and validity of the ScreeLing was established by investigating
141 subjects with acute aphasia (2 weeks after stroke), 23 with chronic aphasia,
and 138 healthy controls. In addition, the acute patients were assessed with the
Token Test and a Spontaneous Speech rating (Aphasia Severity Rating Scale).
RESULTS: The ScreeLing was found to be valid and reliable for assessing the
presence and severity of aphasia and linguistic deficits at 12 days after stroke.
In 22.4% of the patients deficits were found in only 1 of the 3 linguistic
levels; phonology was most frequently disturbed (16.3%), compared with semantics
(2.7%), and syntax (3.4%). The number of impaired linguistic levels was related
to aphasia severity: patients with a 3-level disorder had the lowest Token Test
scores; patients with a selective phonological disorder had the highest
Spontaneous Speech ratings. Phonology alone explained 54.6% of the variance in
the Spontaneous Speech rating. CONCLUSION: In the acute stage, linguistic-level
deficits are already present independently of each other, with phonology affected
most frequently.

Langue : ANGLAIS