Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) and Spoken Language

Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA; (Nasreddine et al., 2005): Assesses general cognitive function; reliable and valid; different versions for repeated assessment (e.g., sentence repetition "I only know that John is the one to help today"; You'll hear a list of numbers and I'd like you to repeat them in the order you heard them).

Everyday Memory Questionnaire (Sunderland et al., 1986): Self-reported measure of cognitive skills many of which are about communication, language and reading (Likert scale) (e.g., forgetting the names of friends or relatives or calling them by the wrong names; getting lost or turning in the wrong direction on a journey or walk you have often been on).

Data analyses

For aims 1 and 2, the methods of analysis for each of the outcome measures is detailed below and will be in conducted in R.

Descriptive statistics by subgroup (medians, range, inter-quartile range) will be generated for each outcome measure (speech-related [primary, secondary], Everyday Memory Questionnaire, Communication Confidence Rating Scale for Aphasia).

Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric analysis of variance will be carried out for each outcome measure (alpha level .05). Post-hoc pairwise comparisons (using Dunn's test correction for multiple comparisons) for statistically significant results. Effect sizes will also be obtained.

Communication Confidence Rating Scale for Aphasia (Cherney et al., 2011): Self-reported confidence in communication activities (Likert scale) (e.g., how confident are you about your ability to talk with people? How confident are you that people understand you when you talk?)

Connected speech assessment tasks (Whitworth et al., 2015): Assesses connected speech skills, (e.g., can you tell me what you did last weekend? Can you remember a recent celebration such as a birthday, anniversary, wedding or party that you have been to? Can you tell me about it? What do you think about global warming and why?)

For aim 3, descriptive statistics (as above) will be generated for each outcome measure non-parametric Wilcoxon tests (alpha level 0.5) will be used. Effect sizes will also be obtained. These analyses will also be carried out in R.

Inclusion criteria

People aged 40-85 with a diagnosis of a single carotid circulation TIA.

Exclusion criteria

Younger than 40 years or older than 85 years of age.

English as a secondary language.

Neurological conditions affecting cognitive function (e.g., Parkinson's disease, dementia, stroke).

Self-reported, pre-existing speech or cognitive problems, developmental or acquired.

Demonstrate noticeable difficulties carrying out project-related tasks.