The Factors Associated with Good Responses to Speech Th erapy Combined with Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Post-stroke Aphasic Patients

Objective To determine factors associated with good responses to speech therapy combined with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in aphasic patients after stroke. Method The language function was evaluated using Korean version of Western aphasia battery (K-WAB) before and after speech therapy with tDCS in 37 stroke patients. Patients received speech therapy for 30 minutes over 2 to 3 weeks (10 sessions) while the cathodal tDCS was performed to the Brodmann area 45 with 1 mA for 20 minutes. We compared the improvement of aphasia quotient % (AQ%) between two evaluation times according to age, sex, days after onset, stroke type, aphasia type, brain lesion confi rmed by magnetic resonance image and initial severity of aphasia. The factors related with good responses were also checked. Results AQ% improved from pre- to post-therapy (14.94±6.73%, p