Developing an Arabic Screening Test for Adult-Onset Chronic Aphasia.

AIM: To develop a time-efficient Arabic test battery for adult-onset chronic aphasia that provides information about the type and the severity of the disorder.

PATIENT AND METHODS: A total of 90 participants were recruited and divided into 3 groups. The groups consisted of 30 adult-onset post-stroke chronic aphasic patients, 30 adult non-aphasic adults with central neurological disorders, and a group of 30 non-brain-damaged healthy adults. All participants were assessed using the Mansoura Arabic Screening Aphasia Test (MASAT), which consists of 4 main sections: (1) language expression abilities including repetition and naming items, (2) language comprehension questions, (3) fluency, and (4) reading, writing and calculation items. The content validity, internal consistency, clinical validity, and convergent validity of the MASAT were evaluated.

RESULTS: The MASAT demonstrated statistically high reliability and validity. The high α-values in all subtotal scores among the 3 groups were judged to denote excellent intercorrelation among the screening test items.

CONCLUSION: The MASAT is a valid and a reliable brief assessment tool that can be completed on the first clinic appointment that detects the type and severity of Arabic-speaking aphasic patients.