EBP Compendium: Summary of Systematic Review
A Meta-Analytic Review of Verbal Fluency Performance Following Focal Cortical Lesions
Henry, J. D., & Crawford, J. R.
Neuropsychology, 18(2), 284–295.
Indicators of Review Quality:
The review addresses a clearly focused question
Criteria for inclusion of studies are provided
Search strategy is described in sufficient detail for replication
Included studies are assessed for study quality
Quality assessments are reproducible
Description: This is a meta-analysis of controlled quantitative studies investigating the sensitivity of tests of verbal fluency to the presence of focal cortical lesions.
Question not specifically stated.
Population: Adults with focal lesions localized in the frontal, temporal, or nonfrontal cortex or lateralized to either the right or left hemisphere.
- Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST-CC and WCST-PE)
- Trail Making Test-Part A (TMT-A)
Number of Studies Included: 31
Years Included: 1982–October 2002
"For frontal but not nonfrontal patients, phonemic fluency deficits qualified as differential deficits when compared with IQ and psychomotor speed; phonemic fluency was also more strongly and more specifically related to the presence of frontal lesions than the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test scores" (p. 284).
Individuals with temporal damage appeared to have a lesser deficit on phonemic fluency and a larger deficit on semantic fluency.
Keywords: Brain Injury; Stroke
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Added to Compendium: February 2009