A Turkish mobile application for single-word auditory comprehension in aphasia: development and preclinical evaluation

Purpose Aphasia frequently impairs auditory comprehension and limits everyday communication. This study describes the design and development of a Turkish-language mobile application targeting single-word auditory comprehension and reports initial performance and usability findings from healthy adults to inform subsequent clinical testing. Materials and methods In the development phase, 84 healthy adults (49 women, 35 men, aged 19–31 years) evaluated visual stimuli using name agreement and image agreement procedures. After revising items with low agreement, a mobile application comprising hierarchically organized single-word auditory comprehension tasks across 12 semantic categories was developed. The finalized application was administered to 40 healthy participants (20 women, 20 men) aged 18–80 years. Accuracy, response time, and usability outcomes were analyzed by age, education level, and mobile device use skills. Results Significant group differences were observed. Participants aged ≥60 years showed lower accuracy and longer response time than the younger groups ( p < 0.05). Higher education levels and ‘Good and Above’ mobile device use skills were generally associated with higher accuracy and shorter response time ( p < 0.05). Daily mobile device use showed no consistent associations with performance ( p > 0.05). Accuracy exceeded 90% across all categories. The application was rated ‘definitely usable’ on the Mobile Application Usability Scale. Conclusion This study presents the design and preclinical evaluation of a Turkish-language mobile application targeting single-word auditory comprehension. The application demonstrated high usability and strong overall task performance in healthy adults, providing initial support for further evaluation in clinical populations. Future studies should investigate its feasibility, clinical relevance, and therapeutic potential in individuals with aphasia.