Effects of patient occupation and education variables on the choice of neuropsychological assessment instruments.
The current study surveyed test-usage practices of clinical neuropsychologists to determine whether respondents varied their assessment batteries based on specific patient demographic characteristics. Respondents were 747 doctorate-level psychologists (40% usable response rate) affiliated with Division 40 of the American Psychological Association, National Academy of Neuropsychology, or the International Neuropsychological Society. Respondents read a vignette about a traumatic brain injury patient and subsequently reported the instruments they would utilize to assess this patient's memory, attention, executive functioning, and ability to return to work. There were three versions of the case study, which varied according to the patient's occupation and level of education. Results revealed that the reported proportion of only 9 of 516 instruments (1.7%) varied across classifications, indicating that some neuropsychologists slightly modified their test batteries based on patients' demographic characteristics. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to enhancing predictions of real-world outcomes based on neuropsychological test data.
Rabin
Laura A
LA
Department of Psychology, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, Brooklyn, New York 11201, USA. lrabin@brooklyn.cuny.edu
Barr
William B
WB
Burton
Leslie A
LA
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000523:psychology; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000523:psychology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D003625:Data Collection; D004493:Education; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009484:Neuropsychology; D009790:Occupations; D010361:Patients; D011586:Psychology, Clinical; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014474:Unconsciousness / Q000523:psychology