CIUs as a Measure of Communicative Performance in a Persian Speaker with Anomic Aphasia

Abstract

Purpose:The main characteristic of anomic aphasia, which is an acquired neurological language disorder, is word-finding difficulty.Connected speech provides valuable information about the patients' communication status and is considered an important measure for assessment, treatment planning and progress. In this paper we intend to report a Persian patient's word retrieval problems based on samples of his connected speech using Correct Information Method (CIU) method, which is a measure for assessing the communicative performance of connected speech and language in aphasic patients. Materials and methods:We present a 30-year-old right-handed Persian monolingual man with right-sided hemiparesis due to brain tumor surgery. His aphasia was evaluated by Persian Diagnostic Aphasia Battery (bedside version) and Persian Naming Battery. Furthermore, after adapting the Persian version of CIU, we measured language performance in spontaneous and semi-spontaneous samples.Results: Assessment results indicated mild aphasia (AQ1= 80%) and mild anomia (77%) in the Persian Naming Battery. 31 Spontaneous and 27 semi spontaneous speech samples were collected and analyzed. The number of words and the number of CIUs were counted and words per minute, percent CIUs, and CIUs per minute measures were also calculated. Conclusions:According to the results, the patient showed moderate to severe anomia in connected speech. The findings provide support to the use of CIUs as a valuable measure of communicative informativeness and efficiency in Persian aphasic patients.