Identifier

etd-04082016-152528

Degree

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Communication Sciences and Disorders

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the presence and degree of treatment effects found for direct attention training on three individuals with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (PD) using the Attention Process Training, Third Edition (APT-III; Sohlberg & Mateer, 2010). APT-III was designed for use with individuals who have sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI), and was selected for this study because of the similarities in cognitive deficits between those with TBI and those with PD. Methods: This study was designed as a phase 2, randomized baseline, A1-B-A2-A3 (baseline, treatment, post-treatment, and follow-up assessment), single-subject experimental design. The study followed the APT-III protocol (Sohlberg & Mateer, 2010) to train attention processes over the course of 6 weeks in two 60 minute sessions per week. Results: Participants all displayed treatment effects in at least one attentional domain following this study. Results of secondary outcome measures designed to quantify level of impairment, activity, and participation were variable. All participants remained within functional limits for working memory for healthy adults their age, and all reported making progress toward functional goals. Discussion: The results of this study suggest that direct attention training using APT-III can improve attention in people with PD (PPD), and that these improvements can be generalized to increase performance on activities of daily living and other functional activities. It also suggests that PPD may benefit from future research investigating the use of APT-III.

Date

2016

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Release the entire work immediately for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Donovan, Neila

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_theses.2915

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