A short version of Rao's Brief Repeatable Battery as a screening tool for cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis

Clin Neuropsychol. 2009 Feb;23(2):268-75. doi: 10.1080/13854040801992815.

Abstract

Rao's Brief Repeatable Battery (BRB) is the most widely used instrument for cognitive evaluation in multiple sclerosis (MS). We assessed a short version of the BRB in 116 relapsing-remitting participants. We found that the administration of three tests, the Selective Reminding Test, the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test-3 seconds and the Symbol Digit Modalities Test, was able to detect cognitive impairment with a sensitivity of 94%, a specificity of 84%, and an accuracy of 89%. On the basis of these results we developed a screening algorithm requiring 5 to 15 minutes, which may represent a highly sensitive and rapid tool to detect MS-associated cognitive impairment.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Cognition Disorders / diagnosis*
  • Cognition Disorders / etiology
  • Cognition Disorders / physiopathology
  • Cognition*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Multiple Sclerosis / psychology*
  • Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting / psychology
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Reproducibility of Results