Seyyedeh Maryam Fazaeli - Orthopedic & Trauma Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Mohammad Reza Ehsaei - Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Gholamreza Bahadorkhan - Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Fariborz Samini - Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

Individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) might experience speech and language impairments such as automatic speech (AS) problems. It refers to the recitation of simple overlearned items without thinking about their meanings. Automatic speech recognition and understanding tend to be easier and more error-free than intentional speech. Regarding lack of research in this domain in Persian language, the article aimed to assess AS in patients with TBI. In this cross-sectional research, two groups were participated: Six adult men with TBI (Mean = 23.66 years, SD = 6.88; Mean = 12.66 months after post-injury, SD= 4.56). Five of these patients had severe TBI (Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) = 3-8) and one of them had moderate TBI (GCS = 9-13). Six healthy adults as a control group were matched to the patients based on age and education (P > 0.05). The TBI group had no history of stuttering, auditory and visual deficits, anti-depressants, alcohol, and drug abuse and other neurological disorders than TBI for the first time. Automatic Speech test, a subtest of Nili Pour᾽s Aphasia Test (2012), was used as an instrument for data gathering which includes counting numbers 1-20, naming weekdays and months of the year. The patient group compared to the control group were considerably impaired in AS, regardless of the item type (P = 0.001, P < 0.05). In detail, the TBI group had intact functioning same as the healthy group in counting numbers and naming the weekdays (P = 1.000, P > 0.05); however, there was a significant impairment in naming months of the year in the patient group (P = 0.001, P < 0.05). In general, TBI patients showed signs of intact functioning in some items of AS. This finding indicated that some items of this type of speech are easier than other types for this clinical population. Hence, regarding the importance of AS in everyday life, it is necessary to focus on challenging issues in TBI patients in rehabilitative services.

Automatic speech, Traumatic brain injury, Adults, Persian language