Development of a Cantonese version of the Birmingham cognitive screen (BCoS) for stroke survivors in Hong Kong

Abstract

The Birmingham Cognitive Screen (BCoS) is a validated neuropsychological assessment tool developed to assess different cognitive domains including language disorders in patients who have brain injuries. The aim of the present study was to develop a valid Cantonese version of the BCoS so as to evaluate the ability of the BCoS to differentiate between stroke survivors and healthy individuals. Twenty two stroke participants and sixteen matched controls were recruited. The participants were administered the HK-BCoS as well as measures of cognitive and language function validated for the Cantonese-speaking population including the CAB, the C-MMSE and the HK-MoCA whereas the control participants were administered the HK-BCoS only. Results showed that the HK-BCoS has good concurrent validity with the CAB, the C-MMSE and the HK-MoCA. It can discriminate between stroke patients with cognitive impairments and healthy controls. Furthermore, the HK-BCoS was found to have excellent intra-rater and inter-rater reliability, good test-retest reliability and fair split-half reliability. In sum, the HK-BCoS is a valid and reliable assessment tool for assessing cognitive impairments in Cantonese-speaking stroke survivors in Hong Kong. The implications for clinical use in aphasia are described.