Thematic and Frequency Analyses of Caregivers’ Report on Communication-related Chief Complaints in Progressive Aphasia

Abstract

Objectives: Progressive aphasia is a symptom that gradually appears and the caregivers are the ones who first notice the changes of patients’ communication abilities. Therefore, it is necessary to identify and analyze the chief complaints (CCs) reported by caregivers in order to better manage communication problems. Methods: First, communication-related CCs of 44 patients (men:women=19:25, mean age=70.5±10.14) with progressive aphasia were extracted from the electronic medical records (EMRs), and thematic analysis was performed using the NVivo 1.0 program. Consequently, a 45-item interview questionnaire was developed based on the contents of the CCs. Second, a semi-structured interview using the questionnaire was conducted with 9 caregivers (men:women=2:7, mean age=56.5± 12.82) of patients to verify the questionnaire, and additional thematic and frequency analyses of contents of the interview were performed. Results: Six main themes and 18 subthemes were extracted from the caregivers’ interview. The 6 main themes included ‘verbal expression’, ‘verbal comprehension’, ‘written expression’, ‘written comprehension’, ‘calculation’, and ‘speech’. As for the subthemes, ‘word’, ‘sentence’, ‘linguistic aspect’, ‘reading comprehension’, ‘money management’ and ‘articulation’ were the most frequently reported problems. In addition, the most severely perceived main themes of CCs were ‘verbal expression’, ‘verbal comprehension’, ‘written comprehension’ and ‘speech’. Conclusion: CCs contain crucial information regarding the current status of communication abilities of patients with progressive aphasia. The results of this study may provide information for clinicians and patients/caregivers to understand the nature of communication problems among patients and to direct future planning of the intervention program.