Aphasia is one of the most frequent devastating cognitive deficits encountered by post-stroke patients. Aphasia and its correlates are associated with poorer prognosis and thus early detection is vital for comprehensive rehabilitation. A simple bedside screening tool can be utilized for this purpose for preliminary detection and classification of aphasia. The aims of this study were to (1) determine the frequency of aphasia among Filipinos with acute stroke using a simplified Tagalog version of the bedside language screening test; (2) determine the most common aphasia syndrome in acute stroke using the same screening tool; and (3) establish possible predictors of aphasia.

This is a cross-sectional analytic study where a total of 292 patients were screened for aphasia from March 2003 to July 2004. Chi-Square, Fisher's T, & Multiple logistic regression tests were used for statistical analysis.

Aphasia was detected in (57.5%) 1 68 patients. Unclassified and global aphasia were the most common syndromes noted in acute stroke, whereas the other types of aphasia were less frequent.

This paper showed that the simplified Tagalog version of the bedside language screening can detect the presence of aphasia and can make a preliminary classification of the different aphasia syndromes. At the acute stage of stroke the most frequently encountered aphasia syndromes were of the severe or non-classic type. The determinants for the occurrence of aphasia in this study were handedness, previous stroke, laterality of the lesion, and type of stroke.