Neuromuscular Unit, Neurology and Psychiatry Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, 11566, Egypt.
Molecular Pathology Unit, German University in Cairo (GUC), Cairo, Egypt.
Neurol Sci. 2023 Jun;44(6):1871-1880. doi: 10.1007/s10072-023-06639-6. Epub 2023 Feb 8.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is the most common, fatal adult neuromuscular disease. It is a multi-system disorder characterized primarily by motor manifestations, but there is established evidence for cognitive and behavioral impairment, which is associated with poor prognosis, hence, the importance of tools for its assessment. The Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioral Assessment Screen (ECAS) is an invaluable assessment tool for cognition in ALS-front temporal spectrum dementia (FTSD), as it accommodates physical challenges that usually confound traditional neuropsychological testing in those patients.
To validate the Egyptian Arabic version of ECAS (ECAS-EG) based on the original English scale. This is a prospective study. The ECAS was adapted and administered to 62 Egyptian ALS patients and 60 healthy controls. Patients were recruited from the Neuromuscular Unit, Ain Shams University Hospital. The ECAS was adapted to Egyptian Arabic after being translated using the back translation method. Internal consistency of the test, inter-rater reliability, and construct validity were assessed.
The Egyptian Arabic version of ECAS (ECAS-EG) showed good internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha of 0.84. Inter-rater reliability was tested, values for all variables were compared, and no statistically significant differences were found (ICC = .997). ECAS-EG discriminated significantly between the patients from the control subjects (p-value of 0.001). There was a strong positive correlation between the ECAS-EG total score and the MoCA total score with a p-value of 0.001, thus indicating convergent validity. The test showed that 63% of Egyptian ALS patients were cognitively affected; most affected domains were executive functions and verbal fluency.
The current study proves that the Egyptian version of the ECAS (ECAS-EG) is valid and reliable among Egyptian ALS patients and it would be applicable to the general Arabic-speaking population.
肌萎缩侧索硬化症（ALS）是最常见的致命性成人神经肌肉疾病。它是一种多系统疾病，主要表现为运动症状，但已明确存在认知和行为损害的证据，这与预后不良有关，因此评估工具非常重要。爱丁堡认知和行为评估屏幕（ECAS）是评估肌萎缩侧索硬化症-额颞叶痴呆（FTSD）认知的宝贵工具，因为它可以适应通常使这些患者传统神经心理学测试复杂化的身体挑战。
基于原始英语量表，验证埃及阿拉伯语版 ECAS（ECAS-EG）。这是一项前瞻性研究。ECAS 经过改编并应用于 62 名埃及 ALS 患者和 60 名健康对照者。患者从 Ain Shams 大学医院神经肌肉科招募。ECAS 通过使用回译法翻译成埃及阿拉伯语。评估了测试的内部一致性、评分者间信度和结构效度。
使用 Cronbach's alpha 为 0.84，埃及阿拉伯语版 ECAS（ECAS-EG）显示出良好的内部一致性。测试了评分者间信度，比较了所有变量的值，未发现统计学差异（ICC =.997）。ECAS-EG 能显著区分患者与对照组（p 值为 0.001）。ECAS-EG 总分与 MoCA 总分之间存在很强的正相关，p 值为 0.001，表明具有收敛效度。该测试表明，63%的埃及 ALS 患者存在认知障碍；受影响最严重的领域是执行功能和言语流畅性。
本研究证明了埃及版 ECAS（ECAS-EG）在埃及 ALS 患者中具有有效性和可靠性，并且适用于一般的阿拉伯语人群。
