Background and Aim: One of the common problems in many types of aphasia syndromes is word retriev... more Background and Aim: One of the common problems in many types of aphasia syndromes is word retrieval and/or production difficulty. So, designing a valid test that can examine this problem based on related processes and influencing factors is important. Picture confrontation naming is a typical method for assessing and treatment of word retrieval impairments. The aim of this study was determining the validity and reliability of oral picture-naming test in assessing word retrieval ability of aphasic adults. Methods: Content and face validity of the test, that contains the line drawings of 115 Persian nouns, were assessed by speech therapists, graphists and painters. Then, the test was administered on 10 aphasics and 30 age-, gender-and education-matched normal subjects in two steps. Construct validity and internal consistency of test were investigated. External consistency was analyzed by test-retest method. Results: The content and face validity of all items were more than 90 and 85 p...
Journal of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, 2016
Background and purpose: The main features of non-fluent aphasia are inadequate production, limite... more Background and purpose: The main features of non-fluent aphasia are inadequate production, limited vocabulary and agrammatism. Such patients have deficits in sentence comprehension and production and their speech is short and telegraphic. In this study, morphological and syntactic errors in speech of non-fluent aphasia were compared with those in healthy subjects. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was performed in 8 patients with non-fluent aphasia and 8 healthy individuals who were matched for age, sex and educational level. The morphological and syntactic structure of speech in healthy subjects and patients were elicited by two tasks (spontaneous speech and pictures description). Data analysis was conducted using the Mann-Whitney test. Results: In spontaneous speech and pictures description significant differences were observed between healthy subjects and patients in average number of names (P=0.004). The average number of verbs showed significant difference between ...
The Aphasia Check List (ACL) test is a comprehensive, time-saving tool for language evaluation in... more The Aphasia Check List (ACL) test is a comprehensive, time-saving tool for language evaluation in aphasia, including a cognitive assessment part. This cross-sectional study aimed to translate this test into Farsi and analyze the psychometric features of the translated version. The original version of the ACL was translated and adapted from German; its psychometric features were then determined. Twenty participants with aphasia (PWA) and 50 ageand education-matched, cognitively healthy controls participated. Possible floor and ceiling effects, discriminant validity, test-retest reliability, and internal consistency were analyzed in addition to the evaluation of internal correlations between the test parts (Language and Cognition). Regarding the performance of PWAs in the language section and the cognitive subtests assessing attention, memory, and reasoning, there were no floor and ceiling effects. Adequate discriminant validities for the language section of the test (i.e., total scor...
Background and Aim: Internal evaluation is an important part of organization monitoring. One of t... more Background and Aim: Internal evaluation is an important part of organization monitoring. One of the Ministry of Health’s policies is to encourage educational departments to conduct internal evaluations. The aim of internal evaluation of department of speech therapy was appraising its education, research and treatment qualities and determining its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOTs) to identify the ways of overcoming weakness and threats. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in 10 phases to evaluate 10 factors. Participants were undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students, academic staff, director of the department along with the patients. The internal evaluation software for educational and research centers released by Center of Medical Education Studies and Development was modified and utilized. Data was analyzed by calculating mean of means. Results: Mean of means from highest to lowest scores were respectively as follows: the q...
Objectives: Speech Diadochokinesis (DDK) is defined as the ability to produce repetitive and fast... more Objectives: Speech Diadochokinesis (DDK) is defined as the ability to produce repetitive and fast speech movements. This study aimed at comparing the DDK rate between Farsi-speaking young and older adults. Methods: In this study, 244 normal adults (122 males and 122 females) were divided into two groups of young people (20-49 years) and elderly (50-69 years). DDK tasks was performed based on two ways: the participant was asked to produce /pa/,/ta/,/ka/,/pata/,/paka/,/taka/, and /pataka/ sounds in 5 s; and to repeat single syllable sounds (/pa/,/ta/,/ka/) 20 times, two syllables sounds (/pata/,/paka/,/taka/) 15 times, and a three syllables sound (/pataka/) ten times, separately and quickly. The independent T-test, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson correlation were used for data analysis. Results: The results indicated a significant negative and weak correlation between age and all syllables in the specified time (range:-0.139 to-0.254), and a positive and weak correlation between age and time with respect to the repetition of all syllables (range: 0.121 to 0.245). There was no significant difference between genders in both ways (P>0.05). Discussion: The results indicated different DDK rate between the young and elderly subjects that can be used as a benchmark for the diagnosis of disabled individuals in producing repetitive and fast oral movements and also as a basis for clinical assessments. Highlights • Our results found a criterion for assessing the ability to produce oral movements in normal young and elderly subjects. • It is suggested that education is effective on the DDK rate; however, gender was not found effective. Plain Language Summary Oral diadochokinesis rate refers to the ability to produce fast and repetitive movements with vocal organs. The DDK rate can indicate the physiological and structural changes in the central nervous system and the peripheral components of the oral and speech production mechanisms. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the DDK rate between Iranian young adults and elderly. The results indicated that the elderly's diadochokinesis rate was slower than the young people, which can be used for the diagnosis of individuals unable to produce repetitive and fast oral movements and also as a basis for clinical assessments.
Introduction: INECO Frontal Screening (IFS) is a brief sensitive screening tool able to detect
ex... more Introduction: INECO Frontal Screening (IFS) is a brief sensitive screening tool able to detect executive dysfunctions. IFS-P is the Persian version of IFS. This study aimed to investigate and analyze the correlation between IFS-P test with cognitive and executive function tests. We seek to investigate whether these tests can replace each other. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, IFS-P was administered to 50 healthy people along with other executive assessments such as phonological verbal fluency (letters A, S and F), semantic verbal fluency (animals, fruits and verbs), and a global cognitive efficiency test (Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE]). The Spearman coefficient test was used to investigate the correlation between IFS-P and other executive and general cognitive tests. Results: The obtained results show no significant correlations between the IFS-P and the other cognitive instruments such as MMSE test. However, IFS-P correlates with verbal fluency tasks (semantic and phonological) in healthy people. Specifically, the correlation between IFS-P total score and other tests are as follows: for MMSE, r=0.20 (P=0.10); for/F/phonological verbal fluency, r=0.36(P=0.00); for/S/phonological verbal fluency, r=0.44 (P=0.00); for/A/ phonological verbal fluency, r=0.35 (P=0.00); for fruits semantic verbal fluency, r=0.30, (P=0.00); for animals semantic verbal fluency, r=0.38 (P=0.00); and for verbs semantic verbal fluency, r=0.56, (P=0.00). Conclusion: IFS-P is a brief, sensitive, and specific tool for the detection of executive dysfunction associated with neurodegenerative diseases. IFS-P correlates with the verbal fluency and does not correlate with the MMSE and cannot be replaced by them. Based on the results, we suggest that all three tests be used together.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric features of the Persian versio... more Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric features of the Persian version of the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC). Method: The International Quality of Life Assessment (IQOLA) approach was used to translate the English ABC into Persian. A total sample of 184 parents of children including 114 children with autism disorder (mean age =7.21, SD =1.65) and 70 typically developing children (mean age = 6.82, SD =1.75) completed the ABC. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, concurrent and discriminant validity, and cutoff score were assessed. Results: The results of this study revealed that the Persian version of the ABC has an acceptable degree of internal consistency (.73). Test–retest comparisons using interclass correlation confirmed the instrument's time stability (.83). The instrument's concurrent validity with Gilliam Autism Rating Scale (GARS) was verified; the correlation between total scores was .94. In the discriminant validity, the autism group had significantly higher scores compared to the normal group. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis revealed that individuals with total scores below 25 are less likely to be in the autism group. Conclusion: The Persian version of the ABC can be used as an initial screening tool in clinical contexts.
Background and Aim: One of the common problems in many types of aphasia syndromes is word retriev... more Background and Aim: One of the common problems in many types of aphasia syndromes is word retrieval and/or production difficulty. So, designing a valid test that can examine this problem based on related processes and influencing factors is important. Picture confrontation naming is a typical method for assessing and treatment of word retrieval impairments. The aim of this study was determining the validity and reliability of oral picture-naming test in assessing word retrieval ability of aphasic adults. Methods: Content and face validity of the test, that contains the line drawings of 115 Persian nouns, were assessed by speech therapists, graphists and painters. Then, the test was administered on 10 aphasics and 30 age-, gender-and education-matched normal subjects in two steps. Construct validity and internal consistency of test were investigated. External consistency was analyzed by test-retest method. Results: The content and face validity of all items were more than 90 and 85 p...
Journal of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, 2016
Background and purpose: The main features of non-fluent aphasia are inadequate production, limite... more Background and purpose: The main features of non-fluent aphasia are inadequate production, limited vocabulary and agrammatism. Such patients have deficits in sentence comprehension and production and their speech is short and telegraphic. In this study, morphological and syntactic errors in speech of non-fluent aphasia were compared with those in healthy subjects. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was performed in 8 patients with non-fluent aphasia and 8 healthy individuals who were matched for age, sex and educational level. The morphological and syntactic structure of speech in healthy subjects and patients were elicited by two tasks (spontaneous speech and pictures description). Data analysis was conducted using the Mann-Whitney test. Results: In spontaneous speech and pictures description significant differences were observed between healthy subjects and patients in average number of names (P=0.004). The average number of verbs showed significant difference between ...
The Aphasia Check List (ACL) test is a comprehensive, time-saving tool for language evaluation in... more The Aphasia Check List (ACL) test is a comprehensive, time-saving tool for language evaluation in aphasia, including a cognitive assessment part. This cross-sectional study aimed to translate this test into Farsi and analyze the psychometric features of the translated version. The original version of the ACL was translated and adapted from German; its psychometric features were then determined. Twenty participants with aphasia (PWA) and 50 ageand education-matched, cognitively healthy controls participated. Possible floor and ceiling effects, discriminant validity, test-retest reliability, and internal consistency were analyzed in addition to the evaluation of internal correlations between the test parts (Language and Cognition). Regarding the performance of PWAs in the language section and the cognitive subtests assessing attention, memory, and reasoning, there were no floor and ceiling effects. Adequate discriminant validities for the language section of the test (i.e., total scor...
Background and Aim: Internal evaluation is an important part of organization monitoring. One of t... more Background and Aim: Internal evaluation is an important part of organization monitoring. One of the Ministry of Health’s policies is to encourage educational departments to conduct internal evaluations. The aim of internal evaluation of department of speech therapy was appraising its education, research and treatment qualities and determining its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOTs) to identify the ways of overcoming weakness and threats. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in 10 phases to evaluate 10 factors. Participants were undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students, academic staff, director of the department along with the patients. The internal evaluation software for educational and research centers released by Center of Medical Education Studies and Development was modified and utilized. Data was analyzed by calculating mean of means. Results: Mean of means from highest to lowest scores were respectively as follows: the q...
Objectives: Speech Diadochokinesis (DDK) is defined as the ability to produce repetitive and fast... more Objectives: Speech Diadochokinesis (DDK) is defined as the ability to produce repetitive and fast speech movements. This study aimed at comparing the DDK rate between Farsi-speaking young and older adults. Methods: In this study, 244 normal adults (122 males and 122 females) were divided into two groups of young people (20-49 years) and elderly (50-69 years). DDK tasks was performed based on two ways: the participant was asked to produce /pa/,/ta/,/ka/,/pata/,/paka/,/taka/, and /pataka/ sounds in 5 s; and to repeat single syllable sounds (/pa/,/ta/,/ka/) 20 times, two syllables sounds (/pata/,/paka/,/taka/) 15 times, and a three syllables sound (/pataka/) ten times, separately and quickly. The independent T-test, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson correlation were used for data analysis. Results: The results indicated a significant negative and weak correlation between age and all syllables in the specified time (range:-0.139 to-0.254), and a positive and weak correlation between age and time with respect to the repetition of all syllables (range: 0.121 to 0.245). There was no significant difference between genders in both ways (P>0.05). Discussion: The results indicated different DDK rate between the young and elderly subjects that can be used as a benchmark for the diagnosis of disabled individuals in producing repetitive and fast oral movements and also as a basis for clinical assessments. Highlights • Our results found a criterion for assessing the ability to produce oral movements in normal young and elderly subjects. • It is suggested that education is effective on the DDK rate; however, gender was not found effective. Plain Language Summary Oral diadochokinesis rate refers to the ability to produce fast and repetitive movements with vocal organs. The DDK rate can indicate the physiological and structural changes in the central nervous system and the peripheral components of the oral and speech production mechanisms. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the DDK rate between Iranian young adults and elderly. The results indicated that the elderly's diadochokinesis rate was slower than the young people, which can be used for the diagnosis of individuals unable to produce repetitive and fast oral movements and also as a basis for clinical assessments.
Introduction: INECO Frontal Screening (IFS) is a brief sensitive screening tool able to detect
ex... more Introduction: INECO Frontal Screening (IFS) is a brief sensitive screening tool able to detect executive dysfunctions. IFS-P is the Persian version of IFS. This study aimed to investigate and analyze the correlation between IFS-P test with cognitive and executive function tests. We seek to investigate whether these tests can replace each other. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, IFS-P was administered to 50 healthy people along with other executive assessments such as phonological verbal fluency (letters A, S and F), semantic verbal fluency (animals, fruits and verbs), and a global cognitive efficiency test (Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE]). The Spearman coefficient test was used to investigate the correlation between IFS-P and other executive and general cognitive tests. Results: The obtained results show no significant correlations between the IFS-P and the other cognitive instruments such as MMSE test. However, IFS-P correlates with verbal fluency tasks (semantic and phonological) in healthy people. Specifically, the correlation between IFS-P total score and other tests are as follows: for MMSE, r=0.20 (P=0.10); for/F/phonological verbal fluency, r=0.36(P=0.00); for/S/phonological verbal fluency, r=0.44 (P=0.00); for/A/ phonological verbal fluency, r=0.35 (P=0.00); for fruits semantic verbal fluency, r=0.30, (P=0.00); for animals semantic verbal fluency, r=0.38 (P=0.00); and for verbs semantic verbal fluency, r=0.56, (P=0.00). Conclusion: IFS-P is a brief, sensitive, and specific tool for the detection of executive dysfunction associated with neurodegenerative diseases. IFS-P correlates with the verbal fluency and does not correlate with the MMSE and cannot be replaced by them. Based on the results, we suggest that all three tests be used together.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric features of the Persian versio... more Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric features of the Persian version of the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC). Method: The International Quality of Life Assessment (IQOLA) approach was used to translate the English ABC into Persian. A total sample of 184 parents of children including 114 children with autism disorder (mean age =7.21, SD =1.65) and 70 typically developing children (mean age = 6.82, SD =1.75) completed the ABC. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, concurrent and discriminant validity, and cutoff score were assessed. Results: The results of this study revealed that the Persian version of the ABC has an acceptable degree of internal consistency (.73). Test–retest comparisons using interclass correlation confirmed the instrument's time stability (.83). The instrument's concurrent validity with Gilliam Autism Rating Scale (GARS) was verified; the correlation between total scores was .94. In the discriminant validity, the autism group had significantly higher scores compared to the normal group. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis revealed that individuals with total scores below 25 are less likely to be in the autism group. Conclusion: The Persian version of the ABC can be used as an initial screening tool in clinical contexts.
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Papers by S. Mehri
executive dysfunctions. IFS-P is the Persian version of IFS. This study aimed to investigate and
analyze the correlation between IFS-P test with cognitive and executive function tests. We seek
to investigate whether these tests can replace each other.
Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, IFS-P was administered to 50 healthy
people along with other executive assessments such as phonological verbal fluency (letters A,
S and F), semantic verbal fluency (animals, fruits and verbs), and a global cognitive efficiency
test (Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE]). The Spearman coefficient test was used to
investigate the correlation between IFS-P and other executive and general cognitive tests.
Results: The obtained results show no significant correlations between the IFS-P and the other
cognitive instruments such as MMSE test. However, IFS-P correlates with verbal fluency tasks
(semantic and phonological) in healthy people. Specifically, the correlation between IFS-P
total score and other tests are as follows: for MMSE, r=0.20 (P=0.10); for/F/phonological
verbal fluency, r=0.36(P=0.00); for/S/phonological verbal fluency, r=0.44 (P=0.00); for/A/
phonological verbal fluency, r=0.35 (P=0.00); for fruits semantic verbal fluency, r=0.30,
(P=0.00); for animals semantic verbal fluency, r=0.38 (P=0.00); and for verbs semantic verbal
fluency, r=0.56, (P=0.00).
Conclusion: IFS-P is a brief, sensitive, and specific tool for the detection of executive
dysfunction associated with neurodegenerative diseases. IFS-P correlates with the verbal
fluency and does not correlate with the MMSE and cannot be replaced by them. Based on the
results, we suggest that all three tests be used together.
executive dysfunctions. IFS-P is the Persian version of IFS. This study aimed to investigate and
analyze the correlation between IFS-P test with cognitive and executive function tests. We seek
to investigate whether these tests can replace each other.
Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, IFS-P was administered to 50 healthy
people along with other executive assessments such as phonological verbal fluency (letters A,
S and F), semantic verbal fluency (animals, fruits and verbs), and a global cognitive efficiency
test (Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE]). The Spearman coefficient test was used to
investigate the correlation between IFS-P and other executive and general cognitive tests.
Results: The obtained results show no significant correlations between the IFS-P and the other
cognitive instruments such as MMSE test. However, IFS-P correlates with verbal fluency tasks
(semantic and phonological) in healthy people. Specifically, the correlation between IFS-P
total score and other tests are as follows: for MMSE, r=0.20 (P=0.10); for/F/phonological
verbal fluency, r=0.36(P=0.00); for/S/phonological verbal fluency, r=0.44 (P=0.00); for/A/
phonological verbal fluency, r=0.35 (P=0.00); for fruits semantic verbal fluency, r=0.30,
(P=0.00); for animals semantic verbal fluency, r=0.38 (P=0.00); and for verbs semantic verbal
fluency, r=0.56, (P=0.00).
Conclusion: IFS-P is a brief, sensitive, and specific tool for the detection of executive
dysfunction associated with neurodegenerative diseases. IFS-P correlates with the verbal
fluency and does not correlate with the MMSE and cannot be replaced by them. Based on the
results, we suggest that all three tests be used together.