Journal article
The Flu-ID: A New Evidence-Based Method of Assessing Fluency in Aphasia
American journal of speech-language pathology, Vol.33(6), pp.2972-2990
11/04/2024
DOI: 10.1044/2024_AJSLP-23-00424
PMID: 39374481
Abstract
Purpose: Assessing fluency in aphasia is diagnostically important for determining aphasia type and severity and therapeutically important for determining appropriate treatment targets. However, wide variability in the measures and criteria used to assess fluency, as revealed by a recent survey of clinicians (Gordon & Clough, 2022), results in poor reliability. Furthermore, poor specificity in many fluency measures makes it difficult to identify the underlying impairments. Here, we introduce the Flu-ID Aphasia, an evidence-based tool that provides a more informative method of assessing fluency by capturing the range of behaviors that can affect the flow of speech in aphasia. Method: The development of the Flu-ID was based on prior evidence about factors underlying fluency (Clough & Gordon, 2020; Gordon & Clough, 2020) and clinical perceptions about the measurement of fluency (Gordon & Clough, 2022). Clinical utility is maximized by automated counting of fluency behaviors in an Excel template. Reliability is maximized by outlining thorough guidelines for transcription and coding. Eighteen narrative samples representing a range of fluency were coded independently by the authors to examine the Flu-ID's utility, reliability, and validity. Results: Overall reliability was very good, with point-to-point agreement of 86% between coders. Ten of the 12 dimensions showed good to excellent reliability. Validity analyses indicated that Flu-ID scores were similar to clinician ratings on some dimensions, but differed on others. Possible reasons and implications of the discrepancies are discussed, along with opportunities for improvement. Conclusions: The Flu-ID assesses fluency in aphasia using a consistent and comprehensive set of measures and semi-automated procedures to generate individual fluency profiles. The profiles generated in the current study illustrate how similar ratings of fluency can arise from different underlying impairments. Supplemental materials include an analysis template, extensive guidelines for transcription and coding, a completed sample, and a quick reference guide. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.27078199
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- The Flu-ID: A New Evidence-Based Method of Assessing Fluency in Aphasia
- Creators
- Jean K. Gordon - University of Rhode IslandSharice Clough - Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- American journal of speech-language pathology, Vol.33(6), pp.2972-2990
- Publisher
- AMER SPEECH-LANGUAGE-HEARING ASSOC
- DOI
- 10.1044/2024_AJSLP-23-00424
- PMID
- 39374481
- ISSN
- 1058-0360
- eISSN
- 1558-9110
- Number of pages
- 19
- Grant note
- New Century Scholar grant from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation
This research was generously supported by a New Century Scholar grant from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation awarded to both authors in 2017. The authors would also like to acknowledge the developers and contributors to AphasiaBank for providing such a rich and informative database for the study of aphasia.
- Language
- English
- Electronic publication date
- 10/07/2024
- Date published
- 11/04/2024
- Academic Unit
- Communication Sciences and Disorders
- Record Identifier
- 9984722933402771
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