Hedman Eli, Hartelius Lena, Saldert Charlotta
Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Department of Health and Rehabilitation, Speech and Language Pathology Unit, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Int J Lang Commun Disord. 2022 May;57(3):565-577. doi: 10.1111/1460-6984.12707. Epub 2022 Feb 9.
Persons with Parkinson's disease (PD) frequently report word-finding difficulties. Many of the established tests are, however, insufficient in detecting mild cases of such symptoms. Results from earlier research have suggested that controlled oral word association tests (COWATs) with high demands on cognitive processing resources could prove helpful in detecting the more subtle (language-related) problems seen in neurological disorders such as PD.
First, to examine whether persons with PD (PwPD) differ in performance on different types of COWATs compared with non-brain-damaged controls. Second, to investigate possible relationships between executive functions and the novel complex oral semantic fluency (COSEF) task performance scores in the PwPD group. Third, to investigate whether age, years of education, severity of motor symptoms and self-perceived severity of word-finding difficulties influenced the COSEF task results.
METHODS & PROCEDURES: A total of 17 PwPD participated in the study. Their results were compared with a matched control group (n = 17) at both group and individual levels. One phonemic and two types of semantic COWATs were used. Correlations between the COSEF task and executive function results, age, education and severity of motor symptoms were analysed in the PwPD group.
OUTCOMES & RESULTS: The PwPD group had significantly lower scores on the COSEF task compared with the control group, but not on the other COWATs. A variation in the results was seen on an individual level. In the PwPD group, large significant correlations were seen between the COSEF task and verbally based tasks measuring working memory and cognitive flexibility. Both age and education, but neither self-perceived severity of word-finding difficulties nor motor symptoms, were correlated with the COSEF task result in the group of PwPD.
CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: The results are in line with the predictions that a relatively more cognitive demanding COWAT such as the COSEF task could prove valuable when assessing word-finding difficulties in PD in research and clinical assessment.
What is already known on the subject Varying degrees of word-finding difficulties are a common symptom in PD and may affect everyday communication. Discreet word-finding difficulties can be hard to detect with the established language assessment tools. What this paper adds to existing knowledge This study adds insights into how PwPD perform on different types of COWATs compared with a control group. It also sheds light on the relationships between a novel, more cognitive complex COWAT and executive functions in PD. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? More cognitively complex COWATs can contribute significantly to the assessment of discreet word-finding difficulties, but it is important to include a thorough anamnesis regarding language and communication in PwPD.
帕金森病（PD）患者经常报告存在找词困难。然而，许多已有的测试在检测此类症状的轻度病例方面并不充分。早期研究结果表明，对认知加工资源要求较高的受控口语词联想测试（COWAT）可能有助于检测帕金森病等神经系统疾病中更为细微的（与语言相关的）问题。
第一，研究帕金森病患者（PwPD）与非脑损伤对照者在不同类型COWAT上的表现是否存在差异。第二，调查帕金森病患者组执行功能与新型复杂口语语义流畅性（COSEF）任务表现得分之间可能存在的关系。第三，调查年龄、受教育年限、运动症状严重程度和自我感知的找词困难严重程度是否会影响COSEF任务结果。
共有17名帕金森病患者参与了该研究。在组间和个体层面将他们的结果与匹配的对照组（n = 17）进行比较。使用了一项音素型和两项语义型COWAT。分析了帕金森病患者组中COSEF任务与执行功能结果、年龄、教育程度和运动症状严重程度之间的相关性。
与对照组相比，帕金森病患者组在COSEF任务上的得分显著更低，但在其他COWAT上并非如此。在个体层面观察到了结果的差异。在帕金森病患者组中，COSEF任务与测量工作记忆和认知灵活性的基于言语的任务之间存在显著的强相关性。在帕金森病患者组中，年龄和教育程度与COSEF任务结果相关，但自我感知的找词困难严重程度和运动症状均与COSEF任务结果无关。
结果符合以下预测，即在研究和临床评估中，当评估帕金森病患者的找词困难时，像COSEF任务这样对认知要求相对更高的COWAT可能具有价值。
关于该主题已知的信息 不同程度的找词困难是帕金森病的常见症状，可能会影响日常交流。使用现有的语言评估工具很难检测出轻微的找词困难。本文对现有知识的补充 本研究深入探讨了与对照组相比，帕金森病患者在不同类型COWAT上的表现。它还揭示了一种新型的、认知更复杂的COWAT与帕金森病执行功能之间的关系。这项工作的潜在或实际临床意义是什么？认知更复杂的COWAT可以对轻微找词困难的评估做出重大贡献，但重要的是要对帕金森病患者的语言和交流进行全面的病史询问。
