## Event Abstract

# ASSESSING SYNTAX COMPREHENSION IN FRENCH POST-STROKE APHASIC PATIENTS: DEVELOPPEMENT, VALIDATION AND NORMALISATION OF THE BATTERIE D’ÉVALUATION DE LA COMPRÉHENSION SYNTAXIQUE (BCS)

- 1 Centre Intégré Universitaire de Santé et de Services Sociaux de la Capitale-Nationale (CIUSSSCN), IRDPQ, Canada

- 2 Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Réadaptation, Canada

- 3 Centre de recherche CERVO, Centre Intégré Universitaire de Santé et de Services Sociaux de la Capitale-Nationale (CIUSSSCN), Canada

- 4 University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland

- 5 Centre Intégré Universitaire de Santé et de Services Sociaux de la Capitale-Nationale (CIUSSSCN), CIRRIS, Canada

Introduction: In order to fill a lack of clinical tools in French for evaluation of syntax comprehension, the Batterie d’évaluation de la Compréhension Syntaxique (BCS) was developed in a collaborative work between research teams from Switzerland and Quebec. The BCS contains 5 sub-tests and is based on a cognitive syntax processing model (Saffran et al., 1992). Objective: To present the BCS validation and normalisation processes. Methodology: For validation, a group of aphasic participants (n=30) was recruited to perform convergent, divergent and discriminant validity assessments and test-retest reliability. The sentence comprehension task of the MT-86 (the most commonly used french clinical test) was used as a reference. For normalisation, two groups of healthy participants from Switzerland (n=75) and Quebec (n=25) were recruited. Analyses were performed to compare the impact of geographic origin, age and education on performance at the BCS. Finally, the normative data for each BCS sub-test was calculated. Results: The BCS demonstrates good convergent validity, excellent divergent validity and excellent test-retest reliability. Discriminant validity analyses reveal that the BCS is as specific as the MT-86, but more sensitive in identifying post-stroke patients with syntax comprehension deficits. Control participants from Quebec and Switzerland have equivalent demographic characteristics and perform similarly to the BCS. Only education level has a significant effect on performance; normative data is therefore stratified accordingly. Conclusion: The BCS has good metrological qualities and norms can be used with both Quebec-French and Swiss-French populations. Normative data, alert point (15th percentile) and cut-off (5th percentile) for each BCS sub-test, based on participant’s education level, were calculated and will be published shortly.

## Acknowledgements

Nous tenons d’abord à remercier tous les participants: les 30 personnes aphasiques ainsi que les 100 sujets contrôles de Suisse et du Québec. Nous exprimons aussi notre reconnaissance aux orthophonistes ayant collaboré au recrutement et à l’évaluation des participants. Un grand merci est aussi adressé à Marc Perron, conseiller à la recherche du CIUSSS de la Capitale Nationale ainsi qu’à Natacha Cordonier et à Valérie Coulombe, pour leur travail dans le cadre du volet normalisation.

## References

1. Saffran, E. M., Schwartz, M. F., Fink, R. B., Myers, J., & Martin, N. (1992). Mapping therapy: An approach to remediating agrammatic sentence comprehension and production. Aphasia Treatment: Current Approaches and Research Opportunities. Bethseda NIDCD, Monograph, 77-90. 2. Caron, S. Le May, M.E., Bergeron, A., Bourgeois, M.E., Fossard, M. (2015) Batterie d’évaluation de la compréhension syntaxique(BCS), Centre intégré universitaire de santé et services sociaux de la Capitale-Nationale – Institut de réadapatation en déficience physique de Québec (IRDPQ). 3. Nespoulous, J-L., Lecours, A.R., Lafond, D., Lemay, A., Puel, M., Joanette, Y., Cot, F. & Rascol, A. (1992). Protocole Montréal-Toulouse d’examen linguistique de l’aphasie. MT-86 Module Standard Initial M1. (2e éd.). Isbergues: Ortho-Édition.

Keywords: syntax, Evaluation, Speech-Language Pathology, readaptation, Aphasia, oral comprehension

Conference: Academy of Aphasia 56th Annual Meeting, Montreal, Canada, 21 Oct - 23 Oct, 2018.

Presentation Type: poster presentation

Topic: not eligible for a student prize

Citation: Bourgeois M, Monetta L, Fossard M and Martel-Sauvageau V (2019). ASSESSING SYNTAX COMPREHENSION IN FRENCH POST-STROKE APHASIC PATIENTS: DEVELOPPEMENT, VALIDATION AND NORMALISATION OF THE BATTERIE D’ÉVALUATION DE LA COMPRÉHENSION SYNTAXIQUE (BCS). Conference Abstract: Academy of Aphasia 56th Annual Meeting. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2018.228.00050

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Received: 26 Apr 2018; Published Online: 22 Jan 2019.

* Correspondence: Mrs. Marie-Eve Bourgeois, Centre Intégré Universitaire de Santé et de Services Sociaux de la Capitale-Nationale (CIUSSSCN), IRDPQ, Québec, QC, Canada, marie-eve.bourgeois@irdpq.qc.ca

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- Marie-Eve Bourgeois

- Laura Monetta

- Marion Fossard

- Vincent Martel-Sauvageau

- Marie-Eve Bourgeois

- Laura Monetta

- Marion Fossard

- Vincent Martel-Sauvageau

- Marie-Eve Bourgeois

- Laura Monetta

- Marion Fossard

- Vincent Martel-Sauvageau

- Marie-Eve Bourgeois

- Laura Monetta

- Marion Fossard

- Vincent Martel-Sauvageau

## Abstract