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Original Articles

A meta-analysis of the relative sensitivity of neuropsychological screening tests

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Pages 591-607 | Accepted 08 Aug 1992, Published online: 04 Jan 2008
 

Abstract

The National Institute of Mental Health recently formed a committee of experts which published a proposal for a lengthy neuropsychological test battery judged most apt to detect diffuse brain damage while covering a wide range of cognitive abilities. The purposes of the present study were (1) to assemble empirical evidence of the existence of statistically significantly sensitive screening tests across an equivalently wide range of functional domains, and (2) to present this evidence systematically, in such a manner as to help clinicians select subsets of screening tests manifesting greatest sensitivity to diffuse brain damage. It was found that in certain functional domains (speed of processing, problem solving, executive functions), marked differences in sensitivity occured. Brief tests just as sensitive as time-consuming tests were also identified. The reader is cautioned about possible extraneous sources of the differences obtained (test and group selection bias, test reliability, test difficulty, procedural effects, Type I error). Nevertheless, it was concluded that a brief highly sensitive and functionally wide-ranging neuropsychological test battery for screening cases of putative diffuse brain dysfunction can be assembled.

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