EBP Compendium: Summary of Systematic Review
A Meta-Analytic Review of Verbal Fluency Deficits in Huntington's Disease
Henry, J. D., Crawford, J. R., et al.
(2005).
Neuropsychology, 19(2), 243–252.
Indicators of Review Quality:
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The review addresses a clearly focused question
| No |
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Criteria for inclusion of studies are provided
| Yes |
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Search strategy is described in sufficient detail for replication
| Yes |
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Included studies are assessed for study quality
| No |
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Quality assessments are reproducible
| No |
Description: This is a meta-analysis of quantitative studies investigating the semantic and phonemic fluency of patients with Huntington's disease (HD) as compared to healthy control participants.
Question(s) Addressed:
Question not specifically stated.
Population: Adults with diagnoses of HD
Intervention/Assessment:
- National Adult Reading Test (NART)
- Reading subtest of the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT)
- Verbal IQ (VIQ) and full scale IQ (FSIQ) of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R)
- WAIS Digit Symbol Test
- Boston Naming Test (BNT)
- Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) – both Category Completed (CC) and Perseverative Errors (PE)
- Dementia Rating Scale (DRS)
Number of Studies Included: 30
Years Included: 1986–October 2002
Findings:
Conclusions:
Assessment/Diagnosis
Assessment Areas
Cognitive-communication
Individuals with Huntington's disease were comparably impaired on tests of phonemic and semantic fluency. "However, in contrast to patients with focal frontal lobe injuries, fluency deficits did not qualify as differential deficits relative to verbal intelligence or psychomotor speed" (p. 243).
Keywords: Huntington's Disease
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Added to Compendium: August 2009