Abstract:
Background: Aphasia is an impairment of language due to focal brain lesions, which
should be detected early to minimize disabilities affecting activities of daily life and
quality of life. Mississippi Aphasia Screening Test (MAST) is a brief, screening tool to
detect both receptive and expressive aphasia.
Objective: The aim of this study was to validate MAST which can be used by any health
care professional as a screening tool to detect aphasia among Sinhala speaking patients.
Methods: A cross-sectional design was used for validation and cross cultural adaptation
of MAST. A total of 53 subjects (23 stroke patients with language disorders and 30
healthy subjects) were enrolled. The MAST was tested for test-retest reliability, internal
consistency, sensitivity and specificity. The study participants were assessed to detect
aphasia using MAST, while Consultant neurologist's diagnosis was taken as the gold
standard.
Results: Mean total score of the test group and control group was 45.00 and 97.73
respectively. The Sinhala validation of MAST had high internal consistency (Cronbach's
alpha for test and control group was 0.997 and 0.914 respectively). The weighted kappa
coefficient of agreement was 0.65, indicating a good agreement between the MAST
scoring with Consultant neurologist's diagnosis. Sensitivity of the MAST was 0.73 and the
specificity was 0.96. There was a significant difference between test group total score
and the normal group total score (p <0.05).
Conclusion: The Sinhala version of MAST is a reliable and valid screening test to detect
aphasia among stroke patients.
