The Communicative Effectiveness Index: Psychometric properties of a Danish adaptation

Abstract

The study investigated the psychometric characteristics of a Danish adaptation and translation of the Communicative Effectiveness Index (CETI). A total of 68 patients with left hemisphere strokes, who had aphasia on admission, were assessed with the CETI at least 1 year after stroke, when 53 of them were still aphasic. Language functions were also assessed with the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB) in 65 and the Porch Index of Communicative Abilities (PICA) in 33 patients. After about 4 months 19 patients were retested in order to compare sensitivity to chance in language function. Activities of daily living were assessed with the Barthel Index (BI) and the Frenchay Activities Index (FAI), and depression was assessed with an illustrated, seven-item visual-analogue scale in a subset of the patients. Reliability measured as internal consistency was satisfactory and on the level of the original standardisation. The 3 month test–retest reliability was lower than in the WAB and the PICA when measured by correlation coefficients, but this might express real communication improvements in some patients that are not reflected in their aphasia scores. Concerning validity, the CETI had high correlations with WAB and PICA. Factor analysis suggests two factors which are interpreted as: (1) ability to formulate spoken language; and (2) ability to communicate by nonverbal means. It is concluded that the CETI can be adapted to other languages without major problems. Its general validity as a measure of functional communication is supported by the analysis of the translated version.