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Objectives: The aim was for the appointed committee of the Academy of Neurological Communication Disorders and Sciences to conduct a systematic review of published intervention studies of acquired apraxia of speech (AOS), updating the previous committee's review article from 2006.
Method: A systematic search of 11 databases identified 215 articles, with 26 meeting inclusion criteria of (a) stating intention to measure effects of treatment on AOS and (b) data representing treatment effects for at least 1 individual stated to have AOS.
Results: All studies involved within-participant experimental designs, with sample sizes of 1 to 44 (median = 1). Confidence in diagnosis was rated high to reasonable in 18 of 26 studies. Most studies (24/26) reported on articulatory-kinematic approaches; 2 applied rhythm/rate control methods. Six studies had sufficient experimental control for Class III rating according to the Clinical Practice Guidelines Process Manual (American Academy of Neurology, 2011), with 15 others satisfying all criteria for Class III except use of independent or objective outcome measurement.
Conclusions: The most important global clinical conclusion from this review is that the weight of evidence supports a strong effect for both articulatory - kinematic and rate/ rhythm approaches to AOS treatment. The quantity of work, experimental rigor, and reporting of diagnostic criteria continue to improve and strengthen confidence in the corpus of research.
Acquired apraxia of speech (AOS) is a motor speech disorder that is typically caused by stroke. It can range from minimal or mild to complete loss of the ability to speak. In some cases, AOS resolves quickly in the acute phase following stroke or neurological injury, but for many people it is a chronic condition that significantly affects communication in everyday situations.
AOS is a disruption in spatial and temporal planning and/or programming of movements for speech production. There is wide consensus that AOS is characterized by slowed speech rate with distorted phonemes, distorted phoneme substitutions, and a tendency to segregate speech into individual syllables and equalize stress across adjacent syllables (Duffy, 2013; McNeil, Robin, & Schmidt, 2009). Although AOS can involve all speech subsystems, it is predominantly a disorder of articulation and prosody. It is important to note that although there is agreement on these features, there is ongoing debate regarding their relative contribution to a...