Cross-cultural adaptation of the Western Aphasia Battery - Revised screening test to Brazilian Portuguese: a preliminary study

Márli De Borborema Neves,John Van Borsel,Mônica Medeiros De Britto Pereira,Emylucy Martins Paiva Paradela

doi:10.1590/s2317-17822014000100006

Márli De Borborema Neves, John Van Borsel + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/s2317-17822014000100006

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to translate and cross-culturally adapt the Western Aphasia Battery - Revised (WAB-R) screening test, thus contributing to future applications of the instrument with Brazilian adults. The adaptation was based on a universalist perspective. The steps for conceptual, item, semantic and operational equivalence were strictly followed, resulting in a short version used in the pretest. The study participants were 30 individuals, between 18 to 89 years old; all were Brazilian speakers, with Portuguese as their first language. However, only 28 volunteers met the criteria for inclusion in the study. Two participants were excluded because they had low scores on the mini-mental state examination and were referred to geriatric assessment. The short version of the WAB-R screening test, used in the pretest, allowed us to observe the behavior and language of the individuals during interactions, to collect impressions of overall communication, and to quantify communication ability by calculating the aphasia quotient and the language quotient, according to parameters of the original instrument. When adapting an instrument, it is important to maintain its original characteristics. However, the properties of measurement may not be in accordance with the psychometric properties of Brazilian culture. Therefore, we propose further analyses of the reliability and validation of the instrument in question in Brazil, which will occur by means of measurement and functional equivalence.

Highlights

Human language is the result of a set of brain activities responsible for the reception, integration, and elaboration of linguistic messages, from the phonetic and phonological plane to the pragmatic and discursive sphere[1].Research studies in the field of neurocognition have demonstrated the importance of different cortical areas in language processing other than Wernicke’s and Broca’s areas
The variety of syndromes found in the literature has turned aphasia into one of the most frequently classified disorders, namely those that result from cranioencephalic trauma and cerebrovascular, neoplastic, inflammatory, and degenerating diseases[5,6,7]
Several areas can be compromised, with different severity degrees; it is characterized by alterations in the content, form, and/or use of language[8,9]

Summary

Introduction

Human language is the result of a set of brain activities responsible for the reception, integration, and elaboration of linguistic messages, from the phonetic and phonological plane to the pragmatic and discursive sphere[1]. Research studies in the field of neurocognition have demonstrated the importance of different cortical areas in language processing other than Wernicke’s and Broca’s areas. The left cerebral hemisphere, dominant for language, and the right hemisphere, acting in paralinguistic aspects and complementing the linguistic role of the left hemisphere, propitiate true communication[2,3,4]. Aphasia is a neurological language disorder consequential of some type of anomaly in the central nervous system. Several areas can be compromised, with different severity degrees; it is characterized by alterations in the content, form, and/or use of language[8,9]

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