Cognitive Communication Disorder: A Proposal for Clinical Classification

Abstract

Cognitive Communication Disorders (CCD) represent an area of speech-language therapy that consistently poses challenges to the discipline. This is partly due to the heterogeneous nature of the clinical picture of CCD, but also to how relatively recent the approach to this disorder is. Due to this, there is a need for subclassifications that account for the distinctive characteristics of the different profiles of this disorder. The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility of establishing a clinical characterization that enables the sub-classification of CCD. To achieve this, a systematic review was carried out, analyzing articles that address the topic. The search was performed using the PubMed and Web of Science (WoS) databases, including the terms Cognitive-Communication Disorder OR Cognitive-Communication Impairment. The cognitive-communicative characteristics identified in each of the articles were analyzed by category, enabling potential groupings that are based on the degree of convergence between the findings and macro-categories to which they can be subsumed. The results show that there are three profiles associated with this disorder: one linked to difficulties in basic cognitive skills, another that presents difficulties in pragmatic communicative skills, and a third that exhibits difficulties in both areas. It is concluded that the subclassification of CCD is viable given the evident convergence of difficulties, and it can be sub-categorized into Executive CCD (ECCD), Pragmatic CCD (PCCD), and Executive-Pragmatic CCD (EPCCD).