Standardization of an Arabic-language neuropsychological battery for epilepsy surgical evaluations

Haya F. Al-Joudi, Lina Mincari, Salah Baz, Michael Nester, Najla Al-Marzouki, Tariq Abalkhail, Noha Aljehani, Camellia Al-Ibrahim, Jason Brandt

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objectives: This study provides a standardized Arabic language neuropsychological test battery and tests its ability to distinguish patients with left and right hemisphere epileptic foci who are candidates for surgical resection. Methods: An Arabic language battery of 15 tests was developed based on the neuropsychological test battery used at the Johns Hopkins Hospital for surgical evaluation of patients undergoing temporal lobe resection. With modifications where culturally required, 11 tests were translated to Arabic by the principal investigator and back-translated by two bilingual health professionals; four tests were available in Arabic and added to the battery. The battery was administered to 21 Arabic-speaking patients with left temporal epileptic foci, 21 with right temporal epileptic foci, and 46 neurologically and psychiatrically healthy adults. Results: Nearly all the Arabic test versions were capable of differentiating healthy controls and the temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) groups. Tests known to distinguish left and right temporal lobectomy candidates, such as wordlist memory and prose recall, were able to do so as accurately as the English versions. Also, a roughly culturally free task (the Baltimore Board) and a newly developed version of the Boston Naming Test demonstrated some sensitivity to left temporal lobe involvement. Conclusions: Arabic-language neuropsychological tests for epilepsy surgical evaluations are made available, demonstrate cultural sensitivity and clinical validity, and require further psychometric property and normative research.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)761-771
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of the International Neuropsychological Society
Volume25
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 1 2019

Keywords

  • Arabic cognitive assessment
  • Arabic cognitive tests
  • Arabic neurocognitive testing
  • Cross cultural neuropsychology
  • neuropsychology of epilepsy
  • saudi neuropsychological tests
  • standardization

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Neuroscience
  • Clinical Psychology
  • Clinical Neurology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

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