Establishing reporting standards for participant characteristics in post-stroke aphasia research: an international e-Delphi exercise and consensus meeting

Sarah J. Wallace*, Megan Isaacs, Myzoon Ali, Marian C. Brady

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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    Abstract

    Objective: To establish international, multidisciplinary expert consensus on minimum participant characteristic reporting standards in aphasia research (DESCRIBE project).
    Methods: An international, three-round e-Delphi exercise and consensus meeting, involving multidisciplinary researchers, clinicians and journal editors working academically or clinically in the field of aphasia.
    Results: Round 1 of the DESCRIBE e-Delphi exercise (n = 156) generated 113 items, 20 of which reached consensus by round 3. The final consensus meeting (n = 19 participants) established DESCRIBE's 14 participant characteristics that should be reported in aphasia studies: age; years of education; biological sex; language of treatment/testing; primary language; languages used; history of condition(s) known to impact communication/cognition; history of previous stroke; lesion hemisphere; time since onset of aphasia; conditions arising from the neurological event; and, for communication partner participants, age, biological sex and relationship to person with aphasia. Each characteristic has been defined and matched with standard response options to enable consistent reporting.
    Conclusion: Aphasia research studies should report the 14 DESCRIBE participant characteristics as a minimum. Consistent adherence to the DESCRIBE minimum reporting standard will reduce research wastage and facilitate evidence-based aphasia management by enabling replication and collation of research findings, and translation of evidence into practice.
    Original languageEnglish
    JournalClinical Rehabilitation
    Early online date16 Oct 2022
    DOIs
    Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 16 Oct 2022

    Keywords

    • reporting standards
    • participant characteristics
    • aphasia
    • stroke
    • treatment

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