METHOD: In 1995, using a language rating scale constructed by the authors, six standardized patients evaluated the English-language proficiencies of 127 second-year medical student undergraduates enrolled at the University of Adelaide, Australia, many of whom were from a non-English speaking background.
RESULTS: An earlier standardized test (Screening Test for Adolescent Language) had identified approximately one third of the students as potentially experiencing difficulties in using English in their training. Students so identified were rated lower than were their peers by the standardized patients.
CONCLUSION: The study proved useful both in identifying aspects of speech that can be reasonably rated by standardized patients and also in identifying students who might benefit from language interventions. Replication studies with the new instrument are required to further establish its reliability, validity, and generalizability across different student cohorts.
METHOD: We translated the TCI into Mandarin and had a non-psychiatric sample of Malaysian Chinese subjects complete the TCI at baseline and at a 1-month retest, with subsets completing English or Mandarin versions alternatively or on both occasions. Analyses examine the TCI factor structure and any impact of language and culture on TCI scoring.
RESULTS: We identified age, gender, occupation and language effects on TCI scale scores. Test-retest reliability was high and not compromised by language. Scale internal consistency was also high. Factor analyses of separate sets of TCI scales corresponded strongly to the structure identified in the TCI development studies.
CONCLUSION: The results indicate that TCI is likely to have applicability to Chinese subjects, and argue against properties being constrained by the English language or by western culture.
METHODS: We recruited 164 healthy controls (HC) and 120 cognitively impaired (CI) subjects- 47 mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 73 mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia participants, from four countries between January 2015 and August 2016 to determine the usefulness of a single version of the VCAT, without translation or adaptation, in a multinational, multilingual population. The VCAT was administered along with established cognitive evaluation.
RESULTS: The VCAT, without local translation or adaptation, was effective in discriminating between HC and CI subjects (MCI and mild AD dementia). Mean (SD) VCAT scores for HC and CI subjects were 22.48 (3.50) and 14.17 (5.05) respectively. Areas under the curve for Montreal Cognitive Assessment (0.916, 95% CI 0.884-0.948) and the VCAT (0.905, 95% CI 0.870-0.940) in discriminating between HCs and CIs were comparable. The multiple languages used to administer VCAT in four countries did not significantly influence test scores.
CONCLUSIONS: The VCAT without the need for language translation or cultural adaptation showed satisfactory discriminative ability and was effective in a multinational, multilingual Southeast Asian population.
Methods: The questionnaire contained items on the socio-demographic characteristics, medical condition, quality of life (QOL), nutritional status, functional capacity, and depression status. The forward and backward translation processes of the original English language version of the questionnaire were undertaken by three independent linguistic translators, while its content was validated by an expert team consisting of seven geriatricians, physicians, dietitian, and lecturers. The Malay version of the questionnaire was tested for face validity in 10 older adult patients over 65 years of age. The internal consistency reliability and construct validity were evaluated among 166 older adult patients (mean age, 71.0 years; 73.5% male). The questionnaire was administered through face-to-face interviews with the patients. Minor amendments were made after the content and face validity tests.
Results: The internal consistency reliability was good, as the Cronbach's alpha for most of the scales surpassed 0.70, ranging from 0.70 to 0.98, with only one exception (Mini Nutritional Assessment Short-Form, Cronbach's alpha=0.62). The factor loadings for all scales were satisfactory (>0.40), ranging from 0.45 to 0.90.
Conclusion: The Malay-version CGA showed evidence of satisfactory internal consistency reliability and construct validity in Malaysian geriatric patients.
METHODS: The key items were generated by a panel of experts and selected according to content validity ratios. The developed scale was initially applied to 50 patients with AE (development cohort) to evaluate its acceptability, reproducibility, internal consistency, and construct validity. Then, the scale was applied to another independent cohort (validation cohort, n = 38).
RESULTS: A new scale consisting of 9 items (seizure, memory dysfunction, psychiatric symptoms, consciousness, language problems, dyskinesia/dystonia, gait instability and ataxia, brainstem dysfunction, and weakness) was developed. Each item was assigned a value of up to 3 points. The total score could therefore range from 0 to 27. We named the scale the Clinical Assessment Scale in Autoimmune Encephalitis (CASE). The new scale showed excellent interobserver (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.97) and intraobserver (ICC = 0.96) reliability for total scores, was highly correlated with modified Rankin scale (r = 0.86, p