Stroke and aphasia quality-of-life scale-39: Reliability and validity of the Turkish version

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to adapt the stroke and aphasia quality-of-life scale-39 (SAQoL-39) to the Turkish language and carry out a reliability and validity study of the instrument in a group of patients with aphasia.Method: The study was a descriptive study and contained three phases: adaptation of the SAQoL-39 to the Turkish language, administration of the scale to 30 aphasia patients and reliability and validity studies of the scale. Internal consistency was assessed with Cronbach's alpha and test-re-test reliability was explored (n=14). The adaptation process was completed based on inter-rater agreement on the translated items and within the scope of final editing by the authors of the study.Result: The SAQoL-39 in Turkish exhibited high test-re-test reliability (ICC =0.97) as well as acceptability with minimal missing data (0-1.4). This instrument exhibited high internal consistency (Cronbach's =0.70-0.97), domain-total correlations (r=0.76-0.85) and inter-domain correlations (r=0.40-0.68).Conclusion: The analysis shows that the Turkish version of SAQoL-39 is a scale that is highly acceptable, valid and reliable and can be easily used in evaluating the quality-of-life of Turkish people with aphasia.