PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS AND RECOVERY IN GERIATRIC PATIENTS WITH SEVERE APHASIA *

Abstract: An attempt was made to determine the effects of age, sex, education, occupational status, deficit in auditory comprehension, duration of symptoms, pre‐illness language proficiency, and current living environment on recovery from severe aphasia. Tests involving pre‐reading, writing, understanding, and speaking were administered to 31 subjects with severe expressive‐receptive aphasia secondary to a cerebrovascular accident and of at least three months' duration. The tests were made initially and after a time interval ranging between 4 and 36 weeks, with a mean of 17.1 weeks. Comparisons were based on change scores. No significant differences at the .01 level were observed as a function of any of these variables.