Preliminary Validation of a Care Partner–Reported Measure of Conversation Difficulties and Their Impacts in Primary Progressive Aphasia

Purpose: Validated tools to assess conversation difficulties and their impacts on care providers in primary progressive aphasia (PPA), a neurodegenerative syndrome mainly affecting language, are lacking. The Perception of Conversation Index–Dementia of the Alzheimer's Type (PCI-DAT), validated initially in Alzheimer's dementia, measures perceived communication challenges, compensatory strategies, and psychosocial outcomes for care partners. Method: We examined the construct validity of the PCI-DAT in 95 communication partners of individuals with PPA who were co-enrolled in the Communication Bridge-2 randomized controlled trial. Exploratory factor analysis and parallel analysis were employed to investigate the underlying factor structure and item-fit statistics. Correlations with established measures that shared similar constructs were also assessed for convergent validity. Results: A three-factor structure emerged, with strong construct validity for PCI-DAT Subscales 1, 4, and 5. Most items (87.8%) demonstrated good fit in the PPA sample. There were moderate-to-strong correlations with established measures between PCI-DAT Subscale 1 (Conversation Difficulties), Subscale 4 (Feelings), and Subscale 5 (Challenges), with r values greater than .50 and p values less than .001. Conclusions: This study is the first to evaluate the use of the PCI-DAT in PPA. Results support the construct validity of the measure in PPA clinical care when examining conversation difficulties and their impacts on care partners.