Semantic Feature Analysis in Patients with Anomic Aphasia: Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Study in Speech-Language Pathologists

Abstract

Anomic aphasia presents clinically as predominant difficulty in lexical retrieval against a background of largely intact fluency, comprehension, and repetition. Naming remediation is therefore central to its rehabilitation. Semantic Feature Analysis (SFA) is an evidence-based word retrieval intervention. However, its uptake into routine clinical practice depends on the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) patterns of the practicing speech-language pathologists (SLPs), which exists sparsely in the Indian context. The present study aimed to assess KAP pattern in practicing SLPs in India regarding the use of SFA in patients with anomic aphasia, to examine the relationships among the three KAP domains, and to compare the KAP scores based on clinical experience. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted using a structured questionnaire in 60 practicing SLPs recruited via convenience sampling. Chi-square and Pearson product-moment correlation analysis revealed that knowledge of SFA was broad at the procedural level but weaker on items concerning the underlying activation mechanism and generalization to untrained items. Attitudes were favorable overall, although 36.7% of respondents reported under-utilization of SFA, with lack of training identified as the dominant barrier (59.6%). Knowledge and practice were significantly correlated (r = .357, p = .005). Stratification by clinical experience revealed that all three inter-domain correlations were significant among clinicians with less than four years of experience, but none reached significance in more experienced clinicians highlighting that mechanism-based curricular content and experience differentiated continuing education are required.