Adaptation of The Scenario Test for Greek-speaking people with aphasia: A reliability and validity study.

BACKGROUND: Evidence-based assessments for people with aphasia (PWA) in Greek are predominantly impairment based. Functional communication (FC) is usually underreported and neglected by clinicians. This study explores the adaptation and psychometric testing of the Greek (GR) version of The Scenario Test. The test assesses the everyday FC of PWA in an interactive multimodal communication setting. AIMS: To determine the reliability and validity of The Scenario Test-GR and discuss its clinical value. METHODS & PROCEDURES: The Scenario Test-GR was administered to 54 people with chronic stroke (6+ months post-stroke): 32 PWA and 22 stroke survivors without aphasia. Participants were recruited from Greece and Cyprus. All measures were administered in an interview format. Standard psychometric criteria were applied to evaluate reliability (internal consistency, test-retest, and interrater reliability) and validity (construct and known-groups validity) of The Scenario Test-GR. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: The Scenario Test-GR shows high levels of reliability and validity. High scores of internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.95), test-retest reliability (intra-class coefficients (ICC) = 0.99), and interrater reliability (ICC = 0.99) were found. Interrater agreement in scores on individual items ranged from good to excellent levels of agreement. Correlations with a tool measuring language function in aphasia, a measure of FC, two instruments examining the psychosocial impact of aphasia and a tool measuring non-verbal cognitive skills revealed good convergent validity (all ps < 0.05). Results showed good known-groups validity (Mann-Whitney U = 96.5, p < 0.001), with significantly higher scores for participants without aphasia compared with those with aphasia. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: The psychometric qualities of The Scenario Test-GR support the reliability and validity of the tool for the assessment of FC in Greek-speaking PWA. The test can be used to assess multimodal FC, promote aphasia rehabilitation goal-setting at the activity and participation levels, and be used as an outcome measure of everyday communication abilities.

Effectiveness of Aural-Oral Approach Based on Volubility of a Deaf Child with Late-Mapping Bilateral Cochlear Implants.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of aural-oral habilitation (AO) over the traditional speech-language therapy, based on the number of vocalization-volubility of a deaf child with late-mapping bilateral cochlear implants using sequential measurements. METHODS: The spontaneous productions during child interactions were analyzed. The child (CY, 7;0 years old) with a mean unaided pure-tone average (PTA) hearing loss >80 dB HL was assessed by using an assessment battery. Study design consisted of two phases: (a) baseline (end of speech therapy) and (b) end of AO treatment. Protophones were analyzed via acoustical analysis using PRAAT software. RESULTS: One-way repeated-measure ANOVAs were conducted within and between phases. The analyses revealed significant differences between the 'phase' and the vocalization outcome (F = 9.4, df = 1, p = 0.035). Post hoc analyses revealed the significant difference between the mean number of disyllable vocalizations of AO approach (p = 0.05). The mean number of vocalizations was calculated for each protophone type, but no other significant difference was measured. CONCLUSIONS: AO approach proved effective as measured through volubility. The outcome of this study is indicative and is a starting point for broader research.