Adaptation and validation of standardized aphasia tests in
different languages: Lessons from the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination –
Short Form in Greek
Affiliations: Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins Medical
Institutions, Baltimore, MD, USA | Department of Psychology, Aristotle University of
Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece | Department of Neurology, University of Athens,
Eginition Hospital, Athens, Greece
Note: [] Corresponding author: Kyrana Tsapkini, Ph.D., Department of
Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 North Wolfe Street,
Meyer 6-113, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA. Tel.: +1 410 955 1702; Fax: +1 410 955
0672; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: The aim of the current study was to adapt the Boston Diagnostic
Aphasia Examination – Short Form (BDAE-SF) [1] to the Greek language and
culture, determine the influence of demographic variables on performance and in
particular the effects of age and education, develop normative data, and
examine the discriminative validity of the test for acute stroke patients. A
sample of 129 community healthy adults participated in the study (66 women),
covering a broad range of ages and education levels so as to maximize
representation of the Greek population and be able to examine the effects of
age and education in language performance. Regression models showed that,
overall, younger and more educated individuals presented higher performance on
several subtests. Normative data for the Greek population are presented in
percentile tables. Neurological patients' performance was compared to that of
the neurologically intact population using Wilcoxon's rank sum test and for the
most part was found to be significantly inferior, indicating good discriminant
validity of the test. Qualitative errors of patients diagnosed with aphasia on
the test are presented, and limitations and generalizable strengths of this
adaptation are discussed.
