Adaptation to Brazilian Portuguese of the verb naming test and the verb comprehension test of the Northwestern Assessment of Verbs and Sentences

• Grant number: 15/13335-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2016
• End date: December 31, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Speech Therapy
• Principal Investigator: Letícia Lessa Mansur
• Grantee: Isabel Junqueira de Almeida
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FM). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Theme: Syntactic evaluation of cognitively healthy Brazilian Portuguese speakers, with focus on verbs. Verb has a central role in neurolinguistic studies, in normal as well as in pathological conditions, as aphasia. Among evaluation instruments, the Northwestern Assessment of Verbs and Sentences (NAVS) should be highlighted. NAVS was created in English; includes production and comprehension of action verbs alone, as well as in canonic and non-canonic sentences. There are no tests validated in Brazilian Portuguese that behold simultaneously semantic and syntactic properties of verbs. Objectives: To perform a translation and transcultural adaptation of the subtests I and II, respectively, verb naming test and verb comprehension test of the NAVS battery; to analyze the internal consistency of the adapted tool; to describe and compare performance profiles of Brazilian Portuguese speakers in the test. Method: Phase 1 - Transcultural adaptation. It is proposed the transcultural adaptation of subtests I and II of the NAVS battery. These procedures will be based on computerized methods, in partnership with the Computer Sciences Course (USP, São Carlos). Phase 2 - Analysis of the internal consistency of the adapted tool and performance profile description of normals. The study will count on participation of 50 cognitively healthy subjects, aged between 50 and 65, divided in two groups, according with the level of schooling: 4-8 years and more than 8 years. To evaluate the internal consistency of the sub-tests, we will use the Cronbach alpha coefficient. The descriptive analysis will include performance profiles and percentiles. (AU)