A Tablet-Based Aphasia Assessment System "STELA": Feasibility and Validation Study

Area of Science:

• Neurolinguistics
• Clinical Linguistics
• Speech-Language Pathology

Background:

• Traditional language tests can be time-consuming and cause patient distress.
• The Short and Tailored Evaluation of Language Ability (STELA) is a tablet-based system designed for efficient language assessment.
• STELA features a reduced item count and an automated testing process.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the administration time of the STELA system.
• To determine the internal consistency of the STELA.
• To assess the validity of the STELA language assessment.

Main Methods:

• The STELA utilizes a tablet application, microphone, and clinician keypad.
• It assesses 5 modalities: auditory comprehension, reading comprehension, naming/sentence formation, repetition, and reading aloud.
• Performance is scored as a correct answer rate (0-100) per modality, with an overall score out of 500.

Main Results:

• STELA administration time was significantly shorter than the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB) (16.2 vs. 149.3 minutes).
• STELA demonstrated strong concurrent validity, with high correlations between its scores and WAB Aphasia Quotient (r=0.93).
• Excellent internal consistency was found across all modalities (Cronbach's α ranging from .787 to .961).

Conclusions:

• The STELA system offers a significant reduction in language assessment duration.
• Evidence supports the good internal consistency and validity of the STELA.
• STELA is a viable tablet-based aphasia assessment tool.