The effects of symbolic gestural training on enhancing recovery of spoken naming in people with aphasia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

PurposeThis study aimed to evaluate the effects of symbolic gestural training on enhancing recovery of spoken naming in people with aphasia (PWA) using a systematic review and meta-analysis.MethodFollowing the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, article search was conducted from four databases: Web of Science Core Collection, Medline, PsycINFO, and EBSCO. A total of 45 participants from four studies investigating the symbolic gestural training effects on PWA and outcome measures of spoken naming were included.ResultThe meta-analysis showed a medium overall effect of symbolic gestural training on enhancing recovery of spoken naming in PWA. Subgroup analysis also revealed that the training effect was more remarkable in the gesture + verbal training paradigm than in the gesture-only training paradigm. However, the differences in the training effects between short and long duration, and training supplied with and without feedback, were nonsignificant.ConclusionThis study illustrates the current state of the literature on symbolic gestural training in PWA, and serves as a reference for clinicians, patients, and health policy-makers regarding the application of symbolic gestural training in clinical or rehabilitation programs.