Table 1 Summary of completed computer-based clinical trials on post-stroke aphasia

Kesav P et al.

J Neurol Sci 2017; 380:137–141 [15]

Clinical Trials registry India 2016/08/0120121

Prospective open randomized, controlled trial with blinded endpoint evaluation.

20

• Group A: less intensive (12 therapy sessions of conventional professional-based SLT)

• Group B: more intensive (12 therapy sessions of conventional professional-based SLT + 12 h of computer-based SLT)

• Less intensive worked better, but authors still recommend using computer-based

Grechuta K et al. Stroke 2019; 50:1270–1274 [16]

NCT02928822

Randomized, controlled, parallel-group trial

17

• Control group (N=8): standard treatment

• Experimental group (N=9): augmented embodied therapy with the Rehabilitation Gaming System for aphasia.

• Both groups significantly improved on the BDAE and on the lexical access-vocabulary test.

• Only the Rehabilitation Gaming System for aphasia group improved on the CAL and showed therapy-induced improvements in language and communication at 16 weeks of follow-up.

Palmer R et al.

Lancet Neurol. 2019; 18: 821–33 [17]

ISRCTN68798818

Pragmatic, superiority, three-arm, individually randomized, single-blind, parallel-group trial.

278

• Control group: 6 months of usual care (usual care group)

• CSLT Group: Daily self-managed CSLT plus usual care

• Attention control plus usual care: paper-based puzzle book activities (e.g., sudoku, spot the difference, word searches, or coloring) on a daily basis.

• CSLT plus usual care resulted in a clinically significant improvement in personally relevant word finding but did not result in an improvement in conversation.

Cherney LR et al.

Clin Rehabil 2021; 35: 976–987 [18]

NCT04413136

Single-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial

32

• Experimental treatment (N=19): Web ORLA (Oral Reading for Language in Aphasia)

• Control group (N=13): a commercially available computer game.

Both groups were instructed to practice 90 min/day, 6 days/week for 6 weeks.

• No significant difference in the gain from pre-treatment to post-treatment between groups.

• The Web ORLA group showed significantly greater gains at the 6-week follow-up than the control group.

Spaccavento S et al.

J Communication Disorders 2021:106158 [19]

NA

Pilot randomized non-inferiority study

22

• Experimental group: computer-based

• Control group: therapist-mediated aphasia treatment

Both groups received one 50-min session for 5 days per week over a period of 8 weeks.

• Participants in both groups improved in language skills, functional communication, and quality-of-life measures from pre- to post-treatment

• No significant differences between groups.

Elhakeem ES et al.

The Egyptian J Otolaryngology 2021; 37:77 [20]

NCT04717180

Randomized controlled trial with blinded endpoint evaluation

50

• Group I: 48 sessions using the Arabic software program

• Group II: 48 sessions of conventional Therapy

• Significant improvement from the baseline in both groups.

• No significant difference in post-therapy results between groups except for some secondary items, whereas group I showed more significant improvement (phrase length, melodic line, word-finding relative to fluency, paraphasia, repetition, responsive naming, Boston naming test)