Translation, Cultural Adaptation and Validation of ACE III for Assessment of Cognition for Gujarati Population

Abstract

Introduction: Cognition is defined as “the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses.” It is a method used by Central Nervous System (CNS) to process information. Ageing leads to cognitive decline and timely diagnosis and intervention might help for successful ageing. Addenbrooke’s Cognitive examination III (ACE III) is a screening tool to detect dementia and mild cognitive impairment. It assesses different domains of cognition like attention, memory, verbal fluency, language and visuo-spatial abilities. The tool was originally developed in English and later was translated to many other languages like Spanish, Thai, Japanese, Malayalam and Hindi. Gujarati is the official language of the state of Gujarat, India. Out of the total population of Gujarat 8.3% are 60 years and above. Aim: To translate ACE III to Gujarati language, and also to culturally adapt and validate ACE III for Gujarati population. Materials and Methods: This methodological study carried out in Ahmedabad Institute of Medical Sciences, Gujarat, India, from November 2016 to May 2017. The ACE III was translated to Gujarati using forward–backward–forward method. The face validity was established by an expert panel consisting of seven neurological medicine and neuro rehabilitation professionals. After obtaining the final Gujarati translated copy of ACE III, both original English version and Gujarati version were administered to group of bilingual older adults to establish the content validity. The data was analysed using Microsoft Excel 2010 and SPSS version 16.0. Results: The results indicated that there is strong positive correlation between original English version and Gujarati version of ACE III with Pearson’s correlation coefficient r=0.87 and p=0.01. The Gujarati version correlated with Education level with Spearman’s correlation coefficient r=0.75, p=0.05 and the original English version of ACE III also correlated with Education level of older adults with Spearman’s correlation coefficient r=0.75, p=0.05. Conclusion: The produced Gujarati version of ACE III is equivalent to original English ACE III and can be used to assess cognition in older adults.

Keywords

• cognition disorders
• cross cultural adaptation
• cross cultural comparison
• diagnosis
• language
• screening