Validation of aphasia screening test for Serbian speakers

Abstract

This paper presents the results of testing the psychometric properties and clinical significance of Serbian aphasia screening test. The sample consisted of 36 adult patients with speech and language impairment caused by the damage of the left hemisphere, representing clinical (experimental) group. Participants in the clinical group were divided into two groups according to the time of testing: the first group consisted of 21 patients with acute brain damage; the second group consisted of 16 patients with the chronic form of aphasia. Out of the total number of participants in clinical groups, 20 participants were diagnosed with one of the classic types of aphasia, using Boston diagnostic aphasia examination battery, while 16 patients had symptoms that did not correspond to any known aphasic syndrome. The control group consisted of 36 healthy participants. All participants, both in clinical and control group, were subjected to testing with Screening test for aphasia (STA). The results showed that STA represents a valid measuring instrument for detecting language impairment in persons with brain damage. The validity of the test was observed in acute and chronic phase of aphasia. Additionally, it was observed that the test is valid for monitoring the recovery of language abilities. It was concluded that STA has a good potential for measuring language impairment that must be examined in a larger sample for the purpose of test standardization.

U radu su prikazani rezultati provere valjanosti i kliničkog značaja Skrining testa za afazije (STA) govornika srpskog jezika. Uzorak se sastojao od 36 odraslih ispitanika sa poremećajem jezika uzrokovanim oštećenjem leve hemisfere mozga, koji su predstavljali kliničku (eksperimentalnu) grupu. Ispitanici kliničke grupe su prema vremenu testiranja podeljeni u dve grupe; prvu grupu je činio 21 ispitanik sa akutnim oštećenjem mozga, a drugu grupu 15 ispitanika sa hroničnim oblikom afazije. Od ukupnog broja ispitanika kliničke grupe, kod 20 ispitanika je Bostonskim dijagnostičkim testom za afazije dijagnostikovan neki od klasičnih tipova afazija, dok je 16 ispitanika ispoljavalo simptome koji nisu odgovarali kliničkoj slici poznatih afazičkih sindroma. Kontrolnu grupu je činilo 36 zdravih ispitanika. Svi ispitanici kliničke i kontrolne grupe su podvrgnuti testiranju STA. Rezultati su pokazali da STA predstavlja validan merni isntrument za otkrivanje jezičkog poremećaja kod osoba sa oštećenjem mozga. Validnost testa je pokazana u akutnoj i hroničnoj fazi afazičnog stanja. Pored toga, pokazano je da je test validan za praćenje oporavka jezičkih funkcija. Zaključeno je da STA ima dobre potencijale za merenje jezičkog oštećenja koje treba ispitati na većem uzorku u cilju standardizacije.