title: Retest reliability in adolescents of a computerized neuropsychological battery used to assess recovery from concussion.
abstract: We examined in a group of 15-year-old adolescents the retest reliability over one week of 7 subscales of the Automated Neuropsychological Metrics (ANAM), a computerized battery based on standard neuropsychological test measures that is one of several such batteries available to assess concussion effects. Since the principle behind these computerized batteries is to assess athletes before injury and after injury to determine the level of deficit and whether the individual is safe to return to play, it is critical that such batteries have excellent retest reliability. Retest reliability of the ANAM was good, especially for the aggregate of throughput scores, reaching 0.87, but lower for individual subtests, especially for those measuring only speed of processing. Thus, the ANAM aggregated score appears to have robust reliability for cognitive measures involving memory and attention in 15-year-olds. Limitations related to assessing return-to-baseline after concussion in adolescents are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. sid.segalowitz@brocku.ca
authors.forename: Sidney J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Segalowitz
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mahaney
authors.forename: Diane L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Santesso
authors.forename: Leslie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: MacGregor
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dywan
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Willer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001924:Brain Concussion / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003658:Decision Making, Computer-Assisted; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D015588:Observer Variation; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results