"Validation of Sinhala Version of Mississippi Aphasia Screening Test (MAST)"

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.