title: Assessing the Amount of Spontaneous Real-World Spoken Language in Aphasia: Validation of Two Methods.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this article is to present the results of a study evaluating the psychometric properties of 2 new measures that exclusively assess the amount of real-world spoken language in patients with aphasia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty individuals with aphasia were evaluated on several measures of spoken language in real-world settings. The Verbal Activity Log (VAL; Johnson et al., 2014) has participants, aided by caregivers, indicate current amount and quality of real-world spoken language compared with before stroke. In addition, digital voice recorders objectively measured the amount of real-world spoken language. The Communicative Effectiveness Index (Lomas et al., 1989), a previously validated measure of functional communication, was used as a comparison measure. Nineteen participants received follow-up assessment ≥ 3 weeks later.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Validity was supported by Pearson correlations between spoken language recordings and the VAL, r(38) = .70, p < .001. Likewise, correlation with the Communicative Effectiveness Index was strong, r(38) = .73, p < .001. Test-retest reliability for both VAL and audio recording was high, with intraclass correlations ≥ .96 and .90, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results present preliminary evidence for the reliability and validity of the VAL and spoken language recording for assessment of the amount of real-world spoken language in aphasia. As a simple patient-reported outcome, the VAL may assist diverse therapies for aphasia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
authors.forename: Michelle M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Haddad
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Taub
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at BirminghamDepartment of Physical Therapy, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
authors.forename: Gitendra
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Uswatte
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication Science and Disorders, Samford University, Birmingham, AL.
authors.forename: Margaret L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at BirminghamDepartment of Neurology, University of Alabama at BirminghamDepartment of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
authors.forename: Victor W
authors.initials: VW
authors.lastname: Mark
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Ameen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barghi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
authors.forename: Ezekiel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Byrom
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
authors.forename: Xiaohua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
authors.forename: Christina M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001037:Aphasia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007807:Language Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012931:Social Environment; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications; D014705:Verbal Behavior