Reliability and Validity of Culturally Adapted Executive Function Performance Test for Koreans with Stroke

Executive Function Performance Test was unusable in Asia because of cultural differences, although evaluating the effect that executive function has on real life is essential to people with stroke. The aims of this study were to report the development and standardization of culturally appropriate Executive Function Performance Test for Koreans (EFPT-K) and to verify its reliability and validity in the stroke population.

EFPT-K was developed by going through the process of translation, back-translation, and an expert committee's conference on cultural adaptation. Inter-rater reliability was examined and 34 people with stroke were recruited to test the internal consistency and criterion validity of EFPT-K. To verify the criterion validity, EFPT-K scores were compared with those of the Trail-Making Test, the Korean Color-Word Stroop Test, the Digit Span Test, and the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS).

Inter-rater reliability and internal consistency of the total score of EFPT-K supported high levels of reliability. In the criterion validity of EFPT-K, all neuropsychological tests but digits backward showed a correlation with the total score of EFPT-K, and AMPS components of initiation, notice/response, and termination showed a moderate correlation with the EFPT-K score.

EFPT-K is a useful tool to evaluate the executive functioning of patients with stroke in real-life tasks and could be used as a sample in other Asian cultures where thorough evaluation of executive function in the performance of daily life is needed.