Linguagem e Esclerose Lateral Amiotrófica: análise de conteúdo semântico

Abstract

Introduction: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a degenerative disease that affects the upper and lower motor neurons and the initial symptoms may be difficulty speaking (dysarthria), difficulty swallowing (dysphagia), difficulty in facial expressions, weakness and fasciculations . Thus, the loss of mobility reduces autonomy and affects communicative issues. In the last 10 years, the number of studies linking the disease to behavioral, cognitive and even language issues has increased. Objective: To describe the lexical content used by ALS patients and identify the semantic relationships established in their discourse. Method: This observational study involved 10 conveniently selected patients who participated in interviews discussing their daily lives and activities. Transcripts of these interviews were analyzed using the open-source software Iramuteq, anchored in the R interface. Results: Analysis revealed "not" as the most repeated word in the corpus, often paired with "more" to intensify negation. Additionally, words related to temporal markers emerged as one of the most recurring semantic groups. Conclusion: The semantic content analysis of language used by ALS patients elucidates their life conditions through linguistic expression. This reaffirms that language represents a fundamental means for individuals to exercise autonomy.