Introduction: In order to fill a lack of clinical tools in French for evaluation of syntax processing, the Batterie d’évaluation de la compréhension syntaxique (BCS) was developed in a collaborative work between research teams from Switzerland and Quebec. The BCS contains 5 sub-tests and is based on a cognitive syntax processing model.

Methodology: For validation, a group of aphasic participants (n=30) was recruited to perform convergent, divergent and discriminant validity assessments and test-retest reliability. The sentence comprehension task of the MT-86 (the most commonly used french clinical test) was used as a reference. For normalisation, two groups of healthy participants from Switzerland (n=75) and Quebec (n=25) were recruited. Analyses were performed to compare the impact of geographic origin, age, and education on performance at BCS. Finally, the normative data for each BCS sub-test was calculated.

Results: The BCS demonstrates good convergent validity, excellent divergent validity and excellent test-retest reliability. Discriminant validity analyses reveal that the BCS is as specific as the MT-86, but more sensitive in identifying post-stroke patients with syntax comprehension deficits. Control participants from Quebec and Switzerland perform similarly to the BCS. Only education level has a significant effect on performance; normative data is therefore stratified accordingly.

Conclusion: The BCS has good metrological qualities and norms can be used with both Quebec-French and Swiss-French populations. Normative data, alert point (15th percentile) and cut-off (5th percentile) for each BCS sub-test, based on participant’s education level, were calculated and will be published shortly.

ASSESSING SYNTAX COMPREHENSION IN FRENCH POST-STROKE APHASIC PATIENTS: DEVELOPPEMENT, VALIDATION AND NORMALISATION OF THE BATTERIE D’ÉVALUATION DE LA COMPRÉHENSION SYNTAXIQUE (BCS)