Learn about the latest research projects our students are undertaking as part of their PhD studies. Students were invited to do a 10 minute presentation on their research in the Student Showcase competition, we are pleased to share some of these presentations. To see more presentations, check the Student research category on the blog sidebar.
Aphasia CRE Student Showcase 2021 presentation by Maquarie University PhD Candidate, Leanne Ruggero on ‘Wellbeing Vocabulary Test’ : Development and Use in PPA”
Background: Measuring PROMS such as quality of life and social engagement has become increasingly common in aphasia research and clinical practice. While trialling such assessments with individuals with Primary Progressive Aphasia, we noted variation in the ability to comprehend some questions.
Aims: To determine if individuals with PPA can understand abstract and low frequency vocabulary items that are used in quality of life and social engagement assessments.
Methods: Items from: the Aphasia Impact Questionnaire, Communication Confidence Rating Scales for Aphasia, Quality of Life in Alzheimer’s Disease Scale, Geriatric Depression Screen, Stroke Social Network Scale, and the MOS Social Support Survey were presented with a semantically related target and two distractors to 34 neurologically healthy controls and 13 individuals with PPA.
Results: The control group’s scores ranged from 54.6-100%, mean=93.1%, SD=10.9%, (chance=33%), while the PPA group ranged from 45.5-95.5%, mean=76.1%, SD=15.5. Scores from 7/13 participants with PPA were significantly lower than the control group (Crawford’s modified t-test, one-tailed, α=0.05). PPA performance was highly correlated with SydBat semantic association scores (R=0.86, P<0.001).
Discussion: Half of the individuals with PPA had poor comprehension of the vocabulary used in common quality of life and social engagement measures. This raises questions about the content validity of self-report wellbeing assessments, particularly in individuals with PPA who have reduced scores on semantic assessments. However, administering these wellbeing assessments still elicited clinically useful information from all participants.