Validation of the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery Screening Tool
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Validation of the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (NAB) Screening Tool in participants with traumatic brain injury and orthopaedic controls in the UK
IRAS ID
141356
Contact name
Theresa Powell
Contact email
Research summary
Individuals who experience traumatic brain injury (TBI) of a mild complicated, moderate or severe nature often have complex neuropsychological impairment. Cognitive assessments are administered following a TBI in order to assess the severity of any resulting cognitive impairment, which allows for adequate planning of treatment needs. With a full assessment taking up to 4 hours, the administration of a comprehensive neuropsychological battery for every patient with TBI is very resource intensive, particularly at the acute stage of care (where the clinical presentation may change rapidly). The Neuropsychological Assessment Battery Screening Tool (NAB-S) has been put forward as a practical option for initial clinical screening but as of yet there are no screens validated specifically in relation to a TBI population. The NAB-S can be administered in 40 minutes and has extensive normative data (N = 1448) with an age range of 18-97 years. The tests examine each cognitive domain (Attention, Memory, Executive Function, Language and Visuo-Spatial reasoning) and are co-normed, allowing direct comparison between different domains of impairment in the same individual. In addition, the test scores can be adjusted for demographic factors (e.g. age, education) to allow some control for pre-injury influences on test scores. However, the validity of the NAB-S has been researched minimally in relation to TBI and then only in the US population; cultural differences may lead to variation between populations. Further, there are as yet only general population control groups whereas it is known that the most appropriate control group for TBI studies is orthopaedic injury control patients. Specifically, the relationship of findings on the NAB-S to ‘gold standard’ neuropsychological tests is unknown. This study aims to validate the NAB-S by administering the battery to both patients with TBI and orthopaedic controls within the UK, as well as gathering additional neuropsychological data.
REC name
West Midlands - South Birmingham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/WM/1006
Date of REC Opinion
24 Jul 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion