Abstract TP334: The Cultural Appropriateness of the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) in Singapore: a Survey on Healthcare Workers’ Opinions

Introduction: The National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) is the most utilized scale for neurological deficits of stroke, assessing various components including dysphasia and dysarthria. However, some non-Western countries have found certain components in the NIHSS to be inappropriate due to cultural differences, but no studies have been conducted in Singapore. We sought the opinions of healthcare workers in Singapore who are involved in stroke care on the cultural appropriateness of the NIHSS. Hypothesis: The NIHSS contains components which are considered culturally inappropriate by healthcare workers in Singapore. Methods: We surveyed 79 healthcare workers who care for stroke patients (24 doctors, 40 nurses, 15 speech therapists), on cultural appropriateness of the dysphasia and dysarthria components of the NIHSS in Singapore, using a standardized questionnaire. Results: The majority of respondents (84%) found ≥1 objects tested for dysphasia culturally inappropriate, with 33% substituting with another picture, 29% skipping the object and 32% using a physical object. Most (86%) opined that ≥1 dysphasia objects should be changed, specifically the hammock (67%) and cactus (51%). The dysphasia phrases and kitchen scene were reported as culturally inappropriate by 49% and 29% of the respondents respectively. For the dysarthria component, 58% found ≥1 word culturally inappropriate and 75% reported adjusting the acceptability of responses by patient demographics. Conclusions: The dysphasia objects, dysphasia phrases and dysarthria phrases of the NIHSS are culturally inappropriate in Singapore. There are inconsistencies in handling these issues and responses are commonly being adjusted to patient’s demographics. Thus we aim to modify the standard NIHSS based on response to this survey and to develop a NIHSS version that is culturally suitable in Singapore.