Background There is an extensive library of language tests, each with excellent psychometric properties; however, many of the tests available take considerable administration time, possibly bearing psychological strain on patients. The Short and Tailored Evaluation of Language Ability (STELA) is a simplified, tablet-based language ability assessment system developed to address this issue, with a reduced number of items and automated testing process. Objective The aim of this paper is to assess the administration time, internal consistency, and validity of the STELA. Methods The STELA consists of a tablet app, a microphone, and an input keypad for clinician’s use. The system is designed to assess language ability with 52 questions grouped into 2 comprehension modalities (auditory comprehension and reading comprehension) and 3 expression modalities (naming and sentence formation, repetition, and reading aloud). Performance in each modality was scored as the correct answer rate (0-100), and overall performance expressed as the sum of modality scores (out of 500 points). Results The time taken to complete the STELA was significantly less than the time for the WAB (mean 16.2, SD 9.4 vs mean 149.3, SD 64.1 minutes; P<.001). The STELA’s total score was strongly correlated with the WAB Aphasia Quotient (r=0.93, P<.001), supporting the former’s concurrent validity concerning the WAB, which is a gold-standard aphasia assessment. Strong correlations were also observed at the subscale level; STELA auditory comprehension versus WAB auditory comprehension (r=0.75, P<.001), STELA repetition versus WAB repetition (r=0.96, P<.001), STELA naming and sentence formation versus WAB naming and word finding (r=0.81, P<.001), and the sum of STELA reading comprehension or reading aloud versus WAB reading (r=0.82, P<.001). Cronbach α obtained for each modality was .862 for auditory comprehension, .872 for reading comprehension, .902 for naming and sentence formation, .787 for repetition, and .892 for reading aloud. Global Cronbach α was .961. The average of the values of item-total correlation to each subscale was 0.61 (SD 0.17). Conclusions Our study confirmed significant time reduction in the assessment of language ability and provided evidence for good internal consistency and validity of the STELA tablet-based aphasia assessment system.
BACKGROUND There is an extensive library of language tests with excellent psychometric properties; however, many of them take considerable time for administration possibly causing psychological stress in patients. The Short and Tailored Evaluation of Language Ability (STELA) is a simplified, tablet-based language ability assessment system developed to address this issue, with a reduced number of items and automated testing process. OBJECTIVE To test validity and internal consistency of STELA. METHODS Patients with aphasia diagnosed by the Japanese version of the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB) participated in this study. Concurrent validity of STELA was estimated to compare with the WAB, investigating the correlation between the total score of STELA and the WAB Aphasia Quotient (AQ). The correlation between subscales was also examined. The internal consistency of the STELA was tested using Cronbach’s α of each modality and item–total correlations. RESULTS STELA’s total score was strongly correlated with the WAB Aphasia Quotient (AQ; r=0.96, P<.001), supporting the former’s concurrent validity concerning the WAB, which is a gold-standard aphasia assessment. Strong correlations were also observed at the subscale level; STELA Auditory comprehension vs. WAB Auditory comprehension (r=.85, P<.001), STELA Repetition vs. WAB Repetition (.90, <.001), STELA Naming and sentence formation vs. WAB Naming and word finding (.89, <.001), and the sum of STELA Reading comprehension or Reading aloud vs. WAB reading (.90, <.001). Cronbach’s α coefficients obtained for each modality were Auditory comprehension .862, Reading comprehension .872, Naming and sentence formation .902, Repetition .787, and Reading aloud .892. Global Cronbach’s α was calculated as .961. The average of the values of item–total correlation to each subscale was .67[.16]. CONCLUSIONS Our study provides positive evidence for the internal consistency and validity of the STELA tablet-based aphasia assessment system.
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