Test–retest reliability of the Turkish translation of the Penn Computerized Neurocognitive Battery

Abstract

Psychiatric disorders are associated with cognitive dysfunction (CD), and reliable screening and follow-up of CD is essential both for research and clinical practice globally; yet, most assessments are in Western languages. We aimed to evaluate the test–retest reliability of the Turkish version of the Penn Computerized Neurocognitive Battery (PennCNB) to guide confident interpretation of results. Fifty-eight healthy individuals completed the PennCNB Turkish version in two sessions. After quality control, reliability analysis was conducted using Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC), corrected for practice effects. Most measures were not significantly different between the sessions and had acceptable ICC values, with several exceptions. Scores were improved considerably for some memory measures, including immediate Facial Memory and Spatial Memory, and for incorrect responses in abstraction and mental flexibility, with correspondingly acceptable ICCs. Test–retest assessment of the Turkish version of the PennCNB shows that it can be used as a reliable real-time measurement of cognitive function in snapshot cross-sectional or longitudinal determinations. Preliminary validity assessment in this normative sample showed expected positive correlations with education level and negative correlations with age. Thus, the Turkish version of the PennCNB can be considered a reliable neuropsychological testing tool in research and clinical practice. Practice effects should be considered, especially when applied in short intervals. Significantly better performances in the retest, beyond practice effect, likely reflect nonlinear improvements in some participants who “learned how to learn” the memory tests or had insight on solving the abstraction and mental flexibility test.

Keywords:

• Neurocognitive testing
• non-Western testing
• test-retest
• Turkish computerized tests

Acknowledgments

We thank Sina Purisa, Enel Deniz Comba, Ozge Bugdaycigil, Merve Tan, Melike Refiye Taslipinar, Esra Erik, and Mirac Nur Musaoglu for their support during translation and data acquisition processes. The authors gratefully acknowledge the use of the services and facilities of the Koç University Research Center for Translational Medicine (KUTTAM), funded by the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Development.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no declaration of interest. The content is solely the authors' responsibility and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Ministry of Development or The Science Academy.

Additional information

Funding

H. Yapici-Eser’s studies are partially funded by The Science Academy’s Young Scientists’ Award Program (BAGEP).