Turkish validity and reliability study on the quick aphasia battery.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Speech and Language Pathology
• Clinical Assessment

Background:

• The English Quick Aphasia Battery (QAB) is a validated tool for detailed and rapid language assessment in bedside patients.
• A need exists for a similar comprehensive yet swift assessment tool for Turkish-speaking stroke patients with aphasia.
• This study addresses the gap by developing and validating a Turkish version of the QAB.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a Turkish version of the Quick Aphasia Battery (QAB-TR).
• To evaluate the validity and reliability of the QAB-TR in Turkish-speaking stroke patients.
• To establish QAB-TR as a suitable bedside tool for aphasia assessment in this population.

Main Methods:

• The study involved 188 participants (aphasic patients, non-aphasic stroke patients, healthy controls).
• Internal consistency, criterion validity (using a language assessment test), test-retest reliability, and inter-rater reliability were assessed.
• Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to determine diagnostic accuracy and a cut-off score.

Main Results:

• QAB-TR demonstrated good inter-rater reliability (Krippendorff's alpha = 0.6754) and test-retest reliability (no significant difference).
• Correlations between QAB-TR subsections and total score were significant (0.244-0.897).
• ROC analysis showed an area under the curve of 0.853, with a cut-off score of 8.825 yielding 0.767 sensitivity and 0.765 selectivity.

Conclusions:

• QAB-TR is a valid and reliable tool with internal consistency, criterion validity, and excellent reliability.
• The test can be administered in approximately 15 minutes, providing multidimensional linguistic insights.
• QAB-TR is suitable for clinical and research use, facilitating early bedside assessment and intervention for Turkish-speaking stroke patients with aphasia.