Frequency of Abnormal Scores on the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery Screening Module (S-NAB) in a Mixed Neurological Sample

Abstract

The Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (NAB; Stern & White, 2003; White & Stern, 2003) is a comprehensive, modular battery of tests comprised of the following six modules: (a) Screening, (b) Attention, (c) Language, (d) Memory, (e) Spatial, and (f) Executive Functions. The Screening Module is an abbreviated version of the full NAB. The purpose of this descriptive study was to present index and primary test score information for the Screening Module in a mixed sample of patients with known neurological conditions. Participants were 37 outpatients with clear evidence of neurological damage or disease. Performance decrements were found on the Attention Index, most notably on the Numbers and Letters tests. Decrements were also found on the Executive Functions Index, most notably on the Word Generation test. Somewhat surprisingly, patients performed well across most of the individual test scores. This mixed clinical sample showed less neuropsychological compromise than the clinical samples presented in the NAB manual.

Key words:

• attention
• executive functions
• memory
• neuropsychological screening

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The author thanks Jennifer Bernardo for assistance with manuscript preparation.

Notes

Note. IQR = Interquartile range; 1 SD = 85 or 40; 10th percentile = 80 or 37; 5th percentile = 76 or 34; 2 SD = 70 or 30.

Note. There are 5 index scores. The number of scores falling at or below each cutoff are presented. cp = cumulative percentage.

Note. There are 13 primary test scores that were considered for these analyses. cp = cumulative percentage.