A valid alternative for in-person language assessments in brain tumor patients: feasibility and validity measures of the new TeleLanguage test

Abstract

Background: Although language deficits after awake brain surgery are usually milder than post stroke, postoperative language assessments are needed to identify these. Follow-up of brain tumor patients in certain geographical regions can be difficult when most patients are not local and come from afar. We developed a short telephone-based test for pre- and postoperative language assessments. Methods: The development of the TeleLanguage Test was based on the Dutch Linguistic Intraoperative Protocol and existing standardized English batteries. Two parallel versions were composed and tested in healthy native English speakers. Subsequently, the TeleLanguage Test was administered in a group of 14 tumor patients before surgery and at 1 week, 1 month and 3 months after surgery. The test includes auditory comprehension, repetition, semantic selection, sentence/story completion, verbal naming and fluency tests. It takes less than 20 minutes to administer. Conclusion: The use of the TeleLanguage battery to conduct language assessments from afar can provide convenience, might optimize patient care and enables longitudinal clinical research.