Assessment of non-progressive dysarthria in Arabic-speaking adults: A systematic review of available measurement instruments.

PURPOSE: We aimed to provide an overview of measurement instruments available to speech-language pathologists for evaluating acquired non-progressive dysarthria in Arabic-speaking adults; evaluate the availability, clinical utility, and psychometric properties of instruments to inform clinical practice; and examine how closely instruments align with the domains of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health framework to help set priorities for future dysarthria assessment development.

METHOD: The systematic review was guided by PRISMA standards, involving seven databases and manual searching. The process of searching, screening, and data extraction was carried out by two reviewers. The selected studies met predetermined inclusion criteria. Quality of evidence and psychometric data of tools were investigated using: GRADE, MMAT, and COSMIN.

RESULT: Fourteen measurement tools for assessing non-progressive dysarthria in Arabic-speaking adults were identified in the literature. Tools grouped into three categories: Those used in their original format, those which had been translated and adapted, and those specifically developed for Arabic-speaking individuals. Most tools addressed the impairment domain, with limited focus on activity and participation domains.

CONCLUSION

The available tools demonstrated limited clinical availability and insufficient psychometric evidence, highlighting the need for further validation and the development of linguistically and culturally appropriate tools for Arabic-speaking populations, and tools that address all International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health framework domains.