A review of Constraint-Induced Therapy applied to aphasia rehabilitation in stroke patients

Constraint-induced aphasia therapy (CIAT) is an intensive therapy model based on the forced use of verbal oral language as the sole channel of communication, while any alternative communication mode such as writing, gesturing or pointing are prevented. Objectives This critical review involved the analysis of studies examining CIAT applied to stroke patients. Methods and Results Using keywords, the Medline database was searched for relevant studies published between 2001 and 2008 (Medline 2001-2008). The critical evaluation of the articles was based on the classifications described by the ASNS (Cicerone adaptation). Two studies were categorized as level Ia, two as level II and one study as level IV. Conclusions These recommendations should be interpreted with caution, given the small number of studies involved, but serve as a guideline for future studies in aphasia therapy.