Sensitivity to Brain Dysfunction of the Halstead-Reitan vs an Ability-Focused Neuropsychological Battery

Abstract

We compared the sensitivity to brain dysfunction of an ability focused neuropsychological battery (AFB), as a proxy for the core of a flexible battery, to the Halstead-Reitan Battery (HRB). The AFB was designed to represent constructs of language function, fine motor skill, working memory, processing speed, verbal and visual memory, and verbal and visual abstraction and problem solving. Receiver operating characteristic analysis (ROC) yielded an area under curve (AUC) of. 86 for the AFB, versus. 83 for the HRB (p =. 50), for discriminating 54 patients with brain dysfunction due to various etiologies, from 69 non-neurologic medical controls. Additionally, Bayesian Model Averaging selected four tests from the combined set of AFB and HRB subtests, plus Trail Making B, which optimally discriminated the brain dysfunction from medical control patients: H-Words, Grooved Pegboard, Finger Tapping, and Trail Making B. These data support the current mainstream practice in neuropsychology of using an AFB (flexible battery) to assess brain dysfunction. In particular, tests involving processing speed appear to be among the most sensitive measures of brain dysfunction. The data do not support the superiority of the HRB to AFB approaches.

Magnitude of Cognitive Dysfunction in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes: A Meta-analysis of Six Cognitive Domains and the Most Frequently Reported Neuropsychological Tests Within Domains

“…Our largest Cohen’s d effect size was −0.60 for the Grooved Pegboard test in the motor domain, which corresponds to a 61.8% overlap, meaning that approximately 20% of controls perform higher than any of the individuals with diabetes, and 20% of the individuals with diabetes perform worse than any of the controls (Zakzanis, 2001). These findings are similar to Larrabee and colleagues (Larrabee, Millis, & Meyers, 2008), who showed that the Grooved Pegboard test was more sensitive than any other test in the core Halstead-Reitan battery in a mixed neurologic sample; Trails B was the next most sensitive. Prior reviews have identified executive function, memory, and attention/ concentration as domains that appear particularly susceptible to cognitive dysfunction in persons with diabetes (Kawamura, Umemura, & Hotta, 2012; Kodl & Seaquist, 2008; Kumar, Looi, & Raphael, 2009; McCrimmon et al, 2012; Reijmer, van den Berg, Ruis, Kappelle, & Biessels, 2010).…”

Diagnostic Accuracy of a Bayesian Latent Group Analysis for the Detection of Malingering-Related Poor Effort

“…In recent years, statistical methods used to detect poor effort in neuropsychological practice and research included odds and likelihood ratios (Bieliauskas, Fastenau, Lacy, & Roper, 1997;Weinborn, Orr, Woods, Conover, & Feix, 2003), the aggregation across multiple indicators Larrabee, Millis, & Meyers, 2008), Bayesian average modeling Millis & Volinsky, 2001;Wolfe et al, 2010), and Bayesian latent class modeling (Mossman et al, 2012). In this context, we recently tested a Bayesian latent group analysis as a method that may help to improve classification accuracy of effort testing in various neuropsychological settings (Ortega, Wagenmakers, Lee, Markowitsch, & Piefke, 2012).…”

Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) May be Valid in Men Ages 18 to 20

“…For years, clinicians and researchers examined neuropsychological functioning using extensive batteries such as the Halstead-Reitan and Luria-Nebraska (Steinmeyer, 1984;Mittenberg, Kasprisin, & Farage, 1985;Kane, Parsons, Goldstein, & Moses, 1987;Katz & Goldstein, 1993;GrothMarnat, 2005;Sweeney, Slade, Ivins, Nemeth, Ranks, & Sica, 2007;Larrabee, Millis, & Meyers, 2008). One recent measure that may have some advantages due to its reduced time of administration is the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS; Randolph, 1998;Randolph, Tierney, Mohr, & Chase, 1998).…”