title: [Normality tables in the Spanish population for psychometric tests used in the diagnosis of minimal hepatic encephalopathy].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) induces an impairment in the quality of life and has been found as the first stage in hepatic encephalopathy syndrome. Psychometric Hepatic Encephalopathy Score (PHES) is a psychometric test battery widely utilized in the diagnosis of MHE which requires correction by age and education.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eight-hundred and eighty four healthy people were included. Trailmaking test-A (TMT-A), TMT-B, digit symbol test (DST), serial dotting (SDT) and line drawing test (LDT) were performed. Age, education, gender, alcohol consumption and hospitalization were recorded. T-student and Pearson correlation were utilized in univariate analyses. A multiple linear regression was performed to detect independent variables associated with psychometric test score. Using the equation from the multiple linear regression, normality tables were built.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Age and education were associated with all 5 tests. An alcohol consumption higher than 10 g per day was associated with a lower score in DST and SDT. A gender influence was seen in TMT-A and TMT-B. Moreover, some differences were found in SDT, TMT-B and LDT according to hospital procedence. In multivariate analyses using multiple linear regression, age and education were independently associated with all five tests.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Normality tables of the PHES allow investigating MHE in cirrhotics avoiding local control groups. Taking in mind normality tables, PHES could become a gold standard test to analyze further diagnostic methods and to evaluate drugs efficacy in MHE. Normality tables are freely available at http://www.redEH.org.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Gestión Clínica de Enfermedades Digestivas, Hospital Universitario de Valme, Sevilla, Spain. mromerog@supercable.es
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Romero Gómez
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Córdoba
authors.forename: Rodrigo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jover
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: del Olmo
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: Montse
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Flavià
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Compañy
authors.forename: María José
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Poveda
authors.forename: Vicente
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Felipo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006501:Hepatic Encephalopathy / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D012016:Reference Values; D013030:Spain