Clinical usefulness of the Spanish version of the Mississippi Aphasia Screening Test (MASTsp): validation in stroke patients

Objective: Clinical validation of the Spanish version of the Mississippi Aphasia Screening Test (MASTsp) as a screening test for language disorders in patients who have suffered a stroke. Material and methods: A total of 29 patients who had suffered a stroke and had aphasia after a left hemispheric lesion were evaluated with the MASTsp, the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination and the Token Test at baseline and after six months of rehabilitation. Two expert speech-therapists evaluated twelve aphasic patients to determine the inter-observer reliability. This sample was assessed twice in the same week to analyse the reproducibility of the test (test-retest reliability). Aphasic patients were compared with a matched sample of non-aphasic patients with vascular lesions in the right hemisphere (n=29) and a group of healthy subjects (n=60) stratified by age and educational level. Results: The MASTsp showed a good convergent validity, interobserver validity, test-retest reliability and a moderate sensitivity to detect changes over time. A diagnostic cut-off <90 on the MASTsp total test score is proposed. Conclusions: The MASTsp is a valid tool for the detection and monitoring of language problems in patients with stroke. (C) 2011 Sociedad Espanola de Neurologia. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L. All rights reserved.