Validity and reliability of the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery - Screening Module (S-NAB) in a subset of Malaysian population with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI)

Appl Neuropsychol Adult. 2021 Jul-Aug;28(4):416-426. doi: 10.1080/23279095.2019.1648264. Epub 2019 Aug 21.

Abstract

This study assessed the validity (construct validity) and reliability (internal consistency) of the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery Screening Module (S-NAB) in detecting mild cognitive deficit/alteration in multicultural, multilingual, and multiethnic mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) population of Malaysia. S-NAB and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) data from 114 patients with mTBI (93 males; 21 females) aged 18 to 60 years old were obtained at University Malaya Medical Center, Malaysia. The mean age was 28.17 ± 8.57 years and mean education years was 12.40 ± 2.01. Convergent validity was assessed between S-NAB domain scores and MoCA total scores by using Pearson's correlation and internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's alpha. Acceptable internal consistency (α ≥ .70) was found for Attention, Language, and Memory domains but weak internal consistencies (α < .50) were found for Spatial and Executive Function domains. There were positive but weak correlations between S-NAB and MoCA. These findings provide some support for the application of S-NAB in assessing mild cognitive deficits of mTBI population in a Malaysian setting.

Keywords: Construct validity; content validity; internal consistency; mild traumatic brain injury; neuropsychological screening.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Brain Concussion* / complications
  • Brain Concussion* / diagnosis
  • Cognition Disorders* / diagnosis
  • Cognition Disorders* / etiology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Psychometrics
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Young Adult