Pre-stroke communication style and post-stroke functional communication in people with severe aphasia : A quantitative observational study

Abstract: Speech and language pathologists working with aphasia therapy regularly encounter close relatives of people with aphasia. A common observation is that close relatives discern a connection regarding how the person with aphasia manages communication difficulties, related to their communication style before suffering from stroke. It is uninvestigated whether premorbid communication style and functional communication in people with aphasia are related to each other. This study aims to explore if there is a relationship between premorbid communication style, cognitive functioning, and post-stroke functional communication in people with aphasia. Premorbid communication style, functional communication and cognitive functions were measured in 47 participants with severe aphasia. Correlation analyses were used to examine if these areas are related to each other. No relationship could be demonstrated between communication style and functional communication, which could be explained by the unreliable measurements that was used to measure communication style. However, there was a statistically significant positive relationship between cognitive function and functional communication. Additional research is needed to reliably measure communication style in future studies. This study contributes valuable information for continued research examining the relationship between premorbid communication style and functional communication in people with aphasia.