Patient-Reported Impact of Aphasia After Stroke on Activities, Participation, and Emotional Well-Being: Results from the Aphasia Impact Questionnaire (AIQ-21)

Abstrakt

Background
Aphasia, a neurogenic language disorder often caused by stroke, affects about one-third of stroke survivors, impairing speech production and comprehension. Besides language deficits, aphasia significantly impacts psychosocial functioning, quality of life, emotional well-being, and social participation.

Participants
This study involved 53 Slovak-speaking individuals with various clinical aphasia types. Ages ranged from 28 to 89 years (M = 59), with the 50–59 age group most prevalent. The sample included 29 women and 24 men with diverse educational backgrounds. Anomic aphasia was most common (n = 21), followed by Broca’s (n = 14) and conduction aphasia (n = 11). The average time since aphasia onset was 15.3 months (range 1–60 months).

Methods
Aphasia severity was assessed using DgAAA, a comprehensive language battery. The subjective impact on quality of life was measured with the Slovak adaptation of the Aphasia Impact Questionnaire–21 (AIQ-21), covering Activities, Participation, and Emotional State. Associations between AIQ-21 scores and aphasia severity, age, sex, education, and time since onset were analyzed using appropriate statistical methods for non-normally distributed data.

Results
A correlation analysis revealed a significant moderate negative association between aphasia severity (DgAAA scores) and self-reported impact (AIQ-21), with rho = -0.39, p = 0.024. Better language performance was linked to a lower perceived impact of aphasia. The effect size  indicates a small to moderate clinically relevant relationship, highlighting a meaningful connection between objective language ability and patients’ subjective experience. In contrast, demographic factors—age, sex, education, and time since aphasia onset—did not significantly influence any aphasia impact domains.

Conclusion
The study concludes that aphasia severity is the primary factor influencing the perceived impact of aphasia on quality of life, with milder cases reporting less burden across activities, participation, and emotional well-being. Demographic variables such as age, sex, education, and time since onset do not significantly affect these subjective assessments. Additionally, the AIQ-21 is confirmed as a

valuable tool for capturing important information about the lived experiences of people with aphasia, highlighting the need to explore psychosocial factors alongside clinical severity in rehabilitation.