JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

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.