A Tablet-Based Aphasia Assessment System "STELA": Feasibility and Validation Study

Abstract

Background: There is an extensive library of language tests, each with excellent psychometric properties; however, many of the tests available take considerable administration time, possibly bearing psychological strain on 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: The aim of this paper is to assess the administration time, internal consistency, and validity of the STELA. Methods: The STELA consists of a tablet app, a microphone, and an input keypad for clinician's use. The system is designed to assess language ability with 52 questions grouped into 2 comprehension modalities (auditory comprehension and reading comprehension) and 3 expression modalities (naming and sentence formation, repetition, and reading aloud). Performance in each modality was scored as the correct answer rate (0-100), and overall performance expressed as the sum of modality scores (out of 500 points). Results: The time taken to complete the STELA was significantly less than the time for the WAB (mean 16.2, SD 9.4 vs mean 149.3, SD 64.1 minutes; P