Development and psychometric evaluation of an assessment of dysarthria for Arabic speakers.

This thesis aimed to improve the management of adult neuromotor speech disorders in Jordan. This aim was achieved by developing empirical evidence in the field of clinical measurements of adult dysarthria for Arabic speakers. In addition, this work provides a clear map toward developing and evaluating clinical measurements in general, and dysarthria measurements in particular.
This PhD project consisted of three phases: 1) Identifying the needs of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in the management of neuromotor speech disorders in Jordan; 2) Developing and testing the Arabic Frenchay Dysarthria Assessment (AFDA) and 3) AFDA clinical testing. The thesis structure reflects these research phases.

Phase (1): Phase one examines the required research in the field of management of adult neuromuscular dysarthria in Jordan by investigating the Jordanian SLP context and conducting a survey which found that Jordanian SLP's considered formal assessment of dysarthria was the most needed area for development. It provides a background about test development of adult dysarthria assessment. In addition, this phase introduces a critical review of adult dysarthria management and provides a model of developing and evaluating empirical evidence related to the assessment of adult dysarthria. The critical review of ‘standardised assessments for adult dysarthria’ was conducted at different stages in this study i.e. before, during and after the development of the Speech-Language Pathology Jordanian (SLPJ) survey and the AFDA. This phase is presented in chapters 1-3.

Phase (2): This phase formed the development of the AFDA and its validation. The second edition of the Frenchay dysarthria assessment (FDA -2) items were reviewed and some modifications were addressed to bring it up to date and to be appropriate for Arabic speakers. Psychometric properties were investigated to establish face and content validity and feasibility. This phase is presented in chapters 4-6.

Phase (3): Phase three established the Arabic norms for the AFDA. In addition, test-retest reliability and inter-rater reliability for the AFDA were established. This phase is presented in chapters 7 and 8.

The thesis presents the development of a psychometrically robust assessment of dysarthria for use with Arabic speakers.