The reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the executive function performance test for patients with a brain injury / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To test the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the executive function performance test (EFPT) when it is used with persons with a brain injury.Methods:Forty-six brain injury patients comprised the patient group, and forty-nine healthy counterparts formed the normal group. All completed the EFPT, the Flanker task, a color shape task, the speech and visual space 2-back and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Thirty normal subjects were asked to complete the EFPT again 4 weeks after the first test. Spearman correlation analysis was used for reliability and validity analysis.Results:The EFPT scale showed good internal consistency, as Cronbach′s α coefficient was 0.73 to 0.83. Test-retest reliability was good, as the internal correlation coefficients ranged from 0.50 to 0.85. The results of the EFPT correlated moderately well ( r=0.29-0.57) with the total number of responses, the number of completed collocations, persistent responses and non-persistent errors, as well as with the percentage of the generalized level of the WCST. Moreover, all of the EFPT results correlated moderately well with those of the IADL except for the task of taking medication. Compared with the control group, the brain-injured group got significantly higher sub-test and total scores on the EFPT. Conclusions:The Chinese version of the EFPT has demonstrated adequate reliability and validity with brain-injured Chinese persons. It is a good tool for evaluating the executive functioning of such persons and can reflect any executive dysfunction in their daily living activities.