The Korean Version of the Right Hemisphere Language Battery: Adaptation and Reliability

Abstract

Objectives: This study presents the Korean version of the Right Hemisphere Language Battery (K-RHLB), reports the preliminary results in healthy subjects, and evaluates inter- and intra-rater reliability. Methods: Fifty-two healthy patients underwent the RHLB, which was adapted to the Korean language. The rater reliability of the Emphatic Stress Test, which is a subtest of the battery, was examined. For inter-rater reliability, three raters evaluated the focus prosody of 35 randomly chosen subjects. For intra-rater reliability, one rater re-evaluated the prosody within 2-week and 3-month intervals. Results: The total mean score of the K-RHLB result was 110.75 ± 2.90 out of 116. The mean percentages of correct responses in the subtests were high and appeared in the following order: Discourse Analysis (99.9%), Written Metaphor Test (99.6%), Lexical Semantic Test (99.3%), Picture Metaphor Test (98.7%), Emphatic Stress Test (94.4%), Inference Test (83.5%), and Humor Test (76.5%). In addition, the inter-rater agreement was high (Gwet’s chance-corrected agreement coefficients AC1 of 0.83 ± 0.02, p < 0.001), as was the intra-rater consistency (Gwet’s AC1 0.93 ± 0.01, p < 0.001). However, some changes in evaluation criteria were confirmed for retest intervals longer than 2 months [Cochran’s Q (2) = 13.82, p < 0.001]. Conclusion: The preliminary results of the K-RHLB in healthy subjects showed overall high scores. Both inter- and intra-rater reliabilities were acceptable. The K-RHLB can be a starting point for more detailed assessment and elaborate intervention in patients with right hemisphere damage. The battery can also be used to evaluate neurodevelopmental disorders with symptoms such as deficits in understanding non-literal languages, semantic integration, and perception and production of appropriate prosody.