Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.
Faculty of Nursing, Graduate School of Medicine, Ehime University, Ehime, Japan.
Psychogeriatrics. 2023 May;23(3):466-474. doi: 10.1111/psyg.12956. Epub 2023 Mar 23.
Semantic dementia (SD), a subtype of frontotemporal dementia, manifests as verbal symptoms, including social and behavioural deficits, associated with focal atrophy of the frontotemporal lobes. This study aimed to clarify the experiences of individuals with early-onset SD receiving speech and language rehabilitation (hereafter referred to as 'rehabilitation'), with the intent of making it routine, as well as the experiences of their families.
Individual interviews were conducted with nine families with members who had adopted rehabilitation. Verbatim transcripts were used as data, and analyzed inductively according to the content analysis process.
The family members realised the changes in the personality and behaviour of the individual with SD early, to the extent that they thought the individual with SD was different from before and were distressed by the loss of verbal communication. Nevertheless, the family members found a way to communicate by maintaining residual functions through rehabilitation and utilising their unique relationship with the individual with SD.
It is important to carefully explain the characteristics of the disease and the long-term significance of rehabilitation to individuals with SD and their families in the early stages of the disease.
语义性痴呆（semantic dementia，SD）是额颞叶痴呆的一种亚型，表现为言语症状，包括社交和行为缺陷，与额颞叶的局灶性萎缩有关。本研究旨在阐明接受言语和语言康复（以下简称“康复”）的早发性 SD 患者的体验，以期使其成为常规治疗，同时也阐明他们的家属的体验。
对 9 个有成员接受康复的家庭进行了个体访谈。逐字记录作为数据，并根据内容分析过程进行归纳分析。
家庭成员很早就意识到 SD 患者的个性和行为发生了变化，以至于他们认为 SD 患者与以前不同，并且对言语交流的丧失感到痛苦。然而，家庭成员通过通过康复保持残留功能，并利用与 SD 患者的独特关系找到了一种沟通的方式。
在疾病的早期阶段，向 SD 患者及其家属仔细解释疾病的特征和康复的长期意义非常重要。
