Web-based Oral Reading for Language in Aphasia (Web ORLA®): A pilot randomized control trial

• Published in: Clinical rehabilitation 2021-07, Vol.35 (7), p.976-987
• Main Authors: Cherney, Leora R, Lee, Jaime B, Kim, Kwang-Youn A, van Vuuren, Sarel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aphasia; Aphasia - etiology; Aphasia - rehabilitation; CAD; Clinical trials; Computer & video games; Computer aided design; Flexibility; Humans; Internet; Intervention; Language; Language Therapy - methods; Male; Middle Aged; Oral reading; Pilot Projects; Rehabilitation; Single-Blind Method; Speech therapy; Speech Therapy - methods; Stroke - complications; Telemedicine; Telerehabilitation; Therapy, Computer-Assisted
• ISSN: 0269-2155; 1477-0873
• DOI: 10.1177/0269215520988475

Objective: To investigate an intensive asynchronous computer-based treatment delivered remotely with clinician oversight to people with aphasia. Design: Single-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial. Setting: Free-standing urban rehabilitation hospital. Participants: Adults with aphasia (at least six months post-onset). Interventions: Experimental treatment was Web ORLA® (Oral Reading for Language in Aphasia) which provides repeated choral and independent reading aloud of sentences with a virtual therapist. Placebo was a commercially available computer game. Participants were instructed to practice 90 minutes/day, six days/week for six weeks. Main measures: Change in Language Quotient of the Western Aphasia Battery-Revised from pre-treatment to post-treatment and pre-treatment to six weeks following the end of treatment. Results: 32 participants (19 Web ORLA®, 13 Control) completed the intervention and post-treatment assessment; 27 participants (16 Web ORLA®, 11 Control) completed the follow-up assessment six weeks after treatment had ended. Web ORLA® treatment resulted in significant improvements in language performance from pre-treatment to immediately post-treatment (X = 2.96; SD = 4.32; P