Deficits in planning, self-regulation and attention are a
relatively common consequence of traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Such “dysexecutive” deficits tend to be most exposed
in complex, real world situations. Consequently, clinicians
often have to rely on interviews, questionnaires and observation
in their assessments. While there is little doubt that dysexecutive
symptoms occur across different cultures, the expression of
those symptoms, the way in which they are experienced by others,
and the propensity of friends/relatives to report negative features
may vary considerably. The cross-cultural use of standardized
checklists and measures that have predominantly been studied
with English speaking, Western groups therefore requires empirical
support. Here a group of 68 healthy Chinese speaking volunteers
were asked to complete translations of 2 UK developed
questionnaires (the Dysexecutive Questionnaire and Cognitive
Failures Questionnaire) measures and to perform 2
“executive” tasks (The Six Elements Test and the
Tower of Hanoi). Their self ratings and the ratings of close
relatives were very close to those seen in the original UK
standardization samples—as was their performance on the
2 tasks. Accordingly, the conditions for assessing their clinical
sensitivity were met. Comparison between 30 Chinese patients
with TBI and matched controls showed that both questionnaires
and tests were sensitive to the deficits in this group.
(JINS, 2002, 8, 771–780.)