Purpose

The primary goal of the test is to diagnose aphasia and related disorders. It is administered to both healthy elderly individuals and patients with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). The BDAE is utilized by neurologists, psychologists, speech therapists, and occupational therapists.

Analysis

The test was developed by Goodglass and Kaplan (1983). This tool provides a shorter version of the BDAE. The full version consists of 28 subtests, and it has been administered to elderly individuals in good health as well as patients diagnosed with AD, ensuring that participants share similar age and educational background.

Scoring

Healthy individuals who scored below 24 on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) were three individuals (the cutoff for diagnosing dementia) and had a lower educational level. Patients with suspected Alzheimer’s Disease (42 individuals) scored below 24, indicating that they were at the threshold for dementia diagnosis. Finally, 46 healthy individuals scored between 24-30, while 9 patients with suspected Alzheimer’s Disease scored at the threshold (25) and were educated.

Statistical Analysis

Subtests with the highest reliability scores included: Auditory Word Discrimination: α = 0.85, Complex Material with Ideas: α = 0.79, Oral Ability – Non-verbal: α = 1.00, Oral Ability – Verbal: α = 0.91, Oral Phrase Reading: α = 0.98, Understanding Spoken Syllabic Patterns: α = 0.87, Written Naming: α = 0.97. The final score is the sum of individual subtest scores.

Validity

The MMSE provides valid and reliable diagnoses for Alzheimer’s Disease patients. The BDAE has been translated and adapted by Tsapkini et al. (2009) in Greek.

Reliability

The Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination is a useful and reliable tool. The reliability method used for the subscales of the BDAE is Kuder-Richardson. The reliability coefficients showed positive consistency regarding the subtests and their measurements. For healthy participants, high reliability was found (.53 < α < 1.00).

References

Greek Literature

Karaoulia, F. (2021). Attempt to standardize the English-language assessment protocol Northwestern Assessment of Verbs and Sentences (NAVS) in a typical population.
Kleiadi, L., & Alzheimer, L. (Application of the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination in Alzheimer’s Disease patients).
Vangelis, A., Dembi, E., & Berdessis, D. (2020). Immediate and delayed recall of a story, using a visual stimulus, in a healthy adult population: Pilot study.

Foreign Literature

Borod, J. C., Goodglass, H., & Kaplan, E. (1980). Normative data on the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination, Parietal Lobe Battery, and the Boston Naming Test. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 2(3), 209-215.
Figueiredo, S., & Barfod, V. (2012). Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination (BDAE).
Goodglass, H., & Kaplan, E. (1983). The Assessment of Aphasia and Related Disorders. Philadelphia: Lea and Febinger.
Tsapkini, K., Vlahou, C. H., & Potagas, C. (2009). Adaptation and validation of standardized aphasia tests in different languages: Lessons from the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination–Short Form in Greek. Behavioural Neurology, 22(3-4), 111-119.