This proposed five year project intends to determine the influence of age on recovery in 90 treated aphasic patients, both male and female, in the first year post stroke. Recovery will be defined as improvement in three dimensions: linguistic performance, functional communication skills, and quality of life. The aphasic patients, ranging in age from 50 to 80 years, will be followed systematically during the period three to 12 months post onset. They will have documented cerebral lesions and will be receiving comprehensive rehabilitation services including speech therapy. We anticipate that the group will be composed of patients in the moderate to severe range of aphasia. Specifically, our objectives are to determine the effects of age in aphasia recovery on: (1) linguistic performance, (2) functional communication skills, and (3) quality of life. At 3, 6, 9 and 12 months post onset the following language/quality of life measures will be administered to all subjects: Neurosensory Center Comprehensive Examination for Aphasia, Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination, Functional Communication Profile, Communication Facility Scale, Functional Life Scale, the Coloured Progressive Matrices, and a tape recorded language sample. The results of the proposed study should help to resolve certain important dilemmas related to the allocation of rehabilitation resources and the selection of patients for rehabilitation medicine services. In the current climate of cost containment in health care and in the face of a dramatically increasing older population, the timeliness of a study which addresses age and recovery from aphasia is apparent. From a theoretical perspective, study findings should add to our understanding of how aging relates to aphasia in the post stroke patient and current theories of aphasia and brain damage.
