Case report: Applied behavior analysis in a case of anomic aphasia in post-acute myocardial infarction with cardiac arrest and brain hypoxia: results of tact-training

TL;DR

This case report shows that telehealth-based behavior training can help an adult with anomic aphasia after a stroke to improve picture naming.

Contribution

The study demonstrates the effectiveness of telehealth-based tact-training for post-stroke aphasia in an adult patient.

Findings

The patient achieved mastery criteria for naming pictures in both stimulus sets during training.

Telehealth sessions maintained the effectiveness of the training without reducing correct responses.

Follow-up results showed sustained performance with 70-100% correct responses.

Abstract

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) tact-training was provided to an adult with post-stroke anomic aphasia, with the main purposes to improve naming of pictures, with a possible generalization to another different setting, through telehealth sessions.

The Multiple probe experimental design across behaviors was used. Two sets of stimuli were used (SET 1 and SET 2), including 60 laminated photos, belonging to three different categories for each set. Procedure included the baseline, the intervention phases (face-to-face and telehealth sessions), and the follow-up (1 month after the end of a tact training).

For both, SET 1 and SET 2, the mastery criterion (80% correct stimulus tacts, for three consecutive times, simultaneously for all categories) was achieved. No increased percentage of correct picture tacts was found for untrained items. At follow-up, the patient provided 70 to 100% correct responses. For both SET 1 and SET 2, telehealth did not modify the correct response trends.

The results of our study seem to suggest that specific tact-training procedures might be successfully carried out in adult and elderly people with post-stroke aphasia. It also appears necessary to arrange protocols providing telehealth sessions, with benefits for both families and the health system.

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