Translation, Cultural Adaptation, and Validity of Barnes Language Assessment in Persian Ageing Population: A Preliminary Study

Ahmad Reza Khatoonabadi; Amin Modarres  Zadeh; Shirin Jafari; Saman Maroufizadeh; Karen Bryan

doi:10.18502/jmr.v19i2.18353

Ahmad Reza Khatoonabadi Department of Speech Therapy, School of Rehabilitation, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Amin Modarres Zadeh Department of Speech Therapy, School of Rehabilitation, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Shirin Jafari Department of Speech Therapy, School of Rehabilitation, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Saman Maroufizadeh Department of Biostatistics, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran.
Karen Bryan Vice Chancellors Office, York St John University, York, United Kingdom.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/jmr.v19i2.18353

Keywords: Alzheimer disease; Aging; Language tests; Psychometrics; Test validity; Test reliability

Abstract

Introduction: As the global population ages, the need for sensitive language assessments for dementia increases. While the Barnes language assessment (BLA) is a valuable tool in English, it has not been translated and validated for Persian-speaking populations.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional translated and culturally adapted the BLA into Persian (BLA-Per) and evaluated its psychometric properties. The translation process followed the international quality of life assessment protocol. The BLA-Per was administered to 30 healthy older adults and 30 individuals with Alzheimer disease (AD). Test-retest reliability was assessed in the AD group. Statistical data analysis was performed using the SPSS software (version 24) at a significance level of 0.05.

Results: Due to significant differences between the patients and cognitively healthy groups regarding age and education years, we used the analysis of covariance to control for these variables’ effects on between-group comparisons. Significant differences in BLA-Per scores were observed between healthy controls and AD patients in 8 out of 14 test components, demonstrating good discriminative validity. Intra-class correlation coefficients for test-retest reliability were above 0.75 for most subtests.

Conclusion: The BLA-Per demonstrated good validity and reliability in assessing language impairments in Persian-speaking individuals with AD. Future research should investigate the BLA-Per in larger samples across different age groups and stages of AD.