2026/07/29 by Kaila Cote, Louisa Suting, Arinjoy Bhattacharjee +1
Medicine · Neuroscience · #Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research #Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism #Traumatic Brain Injury Research
paper · doi:10.1044/2026_ajslp-25-00470
openalex publication_date 2026/07/29 · openalex created_date 2026/07/30 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to examine differences in various elements of real-world, at-home communication and activity participation on quality of life (QoL) for people with aphasia (PWA) and adults with no brain injury (NBI). METHOD: Twenty PWA and 19 age-matched participants with NBI recorded themselves at home for two consecutive days. The Language Environment Analysis system was used to analyze recordings for total conversation time and silence. Thirty minutes of conversation was transcribed manually and analyzed for word count and conversational turns. Participants also completed daily activity diaries. Correlations were used to explore the association between communication variables and QoL scores followed by multiple regression to identify predictors of QoL. RESULTS: PWA and participants with NBI as well as their partners produced similar amounts of total conversation time; however, participants with NBI used more than twice as many words within the same time period. Standardized QoL scores did not differ significantly between groups. Total conversation time emerged as a significant predictor of QoL in the regression model. No group differences were observed in overall activity participation, though television watching was negatively associated with QoL for PWA. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that quantitative measures of everyday communication such as conversation time, word count, and conversational turns may not fully distinguish PWA from healthy adults, yet specific communication behaviors such as the amount of time spent in conversation and increased television watching may influence QoL. Clinicians should consider home communication as an important factor when assessing language needs and designing interventions. Future research will explore how the quality, not just the quantity, of communicative interactions contributes to QoL in aphasia.