Development of Indian and Malayalam Version of BDAE-3

Abstract

The need to assess language capacities in all aphasic should be obvious for a number of reasons. Assessment is essential for the purpose of diagnosis. The BDAE is designed to meet all the three main applications of aphasia assessment, making it maximally useful to the neurologist, speech pathologist and therapist. Beyond traditional aphasia settings, it is among the top five language tests reportedly used by speech-language pathologists who provided services to patients with traumatic head injuries. Although BDAE-3 is very popular in the west, it has not been tested in the Indian context. For international parity such exercises are essential. Although there are considerable number of tests for aphasia available in English and some in the Indian languages (Eg.WAB), there are very few in Malayalam, the language spoken in Kerala. Therefore, the present study attempts to design an aphasia test in Malayalam based on BDAE-3. The study also attempts to make culturally appropriate adaptations in the English version of BDAE-3 so that it can be used for the English speaking Indian patients. The results show that the BDAE-3 (Indian and Malayalam versions) comprehensively assesses the assets and liabilities of an aphasic patient in English and Malayalam by probing into all the aspects of a language. The Indian and Malayalam versions of BDAE-3 may therefore be used as clinical tests for aphasia all over India and in Kerala, respectively.