Arabic version of Stroop test and its equivalency to the English version

The Stroop test is one of the most popular tests frequently used to assess the function of the frontal lobe in neurological and psychiatric patient populations. Performance on the Stroop test is very sensitive to lesions of the frontal lobes and is commonly used in clinical settings. In 1999, we decided to find out if the Stroop test will be as reliable after translation to the Arabic language as the original English version. We completed the work in Riyadh Military Hospital in 2000. A sample of 10 Saudi adult healthy individuals participated in this study. Their mean age was 31.9 and their mean years of education were 17.3. All subjects performed the Arabic and the English versions of Stroop test. Performance showed no differences between the English and the Arabic versions of the Stroop test. Equivalency data between the two versions of Stroop test are provided. The availability of this data will help us to provide a normative data for the Saudi Committee of Health Education, and in carrying out research on frontal lobe function

Normative data for the two equivalent forms of the Arabic verbal fluency test

Performance on verbal fluency [VF] test is sensitive to lesions of the frontal lobes. We earlier developed two equivalent forms of formal VF in the Arabic language for use with healthy Saudi individuals. In 2000, we decided to improve our work by providing normative data for the VF test, and completed the work in the Riyadh Military Hospital in 2003. During this time, we managed to provide normative data for both Arabic versions of the VF test. Version 1 consists of the letters taa, raa waaw, and version 2 consists of the letters qaaf, daal, siin. A sample of 198 healthy adult Saudi individuals, aged 18 to 65 years, participated in this study. Subjects were classified into three age groups [18-30, 31-50, 51-65] and all performed the two versions of the Arabic VF test. Performance of the participants on the two versions of the VF test was correlated with age [r=-0.199], education [r= 0.729] and socioeconomic class [r= -0.691]. Performance on both versions is highly correlated [r= 0.891] with no significant difference between the number of words produced on the two versions. Normative data for participants are provided; and covariation method was used for education. The availability of this normative data will help the neuropsychologist in clinical assessment and in carrying out research on frontal lobe function