title: Boston Naming Test: shortened versions for use in Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: Four new 15-item versions of the Boston Naming Test (BNT), a 15-item version used by the Consortium To Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD), and three 30-item BNT versions were studied in 26 subjects with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 26 nondemented, neurologically normal controls. The four 15-item versions were statistically equivalent. On each version, controls performed significantly better than AD subjects, and scores on each could be extrapolated to a complete 60-item BNT score. The CERAD version also differentiated between AD and control subjects, but it was not equivalent to our four versions and could not be as easily extrapolated to a 60-item score. Even and Odd 30-item BNT versions were confirmed to be equivalent, and we further validated a 30-item Empirical Version designed to maximally discriminate between AD and normal subjects. Equivalent 15- or 30-item versions of the BNT will be useful in repeated assessments requiring independent forms of a naming task, as well as in situations where administration of the complete BNT is not practical.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California.
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Mack
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Freed
authors.forename: B W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: V W
authors.initials: VW
authors.lastname: Henderson
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests