The MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery, part 1: test selection, reliability, and validity.
OBJECTIVE
The lack of an accepted standard for measuring cognitive change in schizophrenia has been a major obstacle to regulatory approval of cognition-enhancing treatments. A primary mandate of the National Institute of Mental Health's Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (MATRICS) initiative was to develop a consensus cognitive battery for clinical trials of cognition-enhancing treatments for schizophrenia through a broadly based scientific evaluation of measures.


METHODS
The MATRICS Neurocognition Committee evaluated more than 90 tests in seven cognitive domains to identify the 36 most promising measures. A separate expert panel evaluated the degree to which each test met specific selection criteria. Twenty tests were selected as a beta battery. The beta battery was administered to 176 individuals with schizophrenia and readministered to 167 of them 4 weeks later so that the 20 tests could be compared directly.


RESULTS
The expert panel ratings are presented for the initially selected 36 tests. For the beta battery tests, data on test-retest reliability, practice effects, relationships to functional status, practicality, and tolerability are presented. Based on these data, 10 tests were selected to represent seven cognitive domains in the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery.


CONCLUSIONS
The structured consensus method was a feasible and fair mechanism for choosing candidate tests, and direct comparison of beta battery tests in a common sample allowed selection of a final consensus battery. The MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery is expected to be the standard tool for assessing cognitive change in clinical trials of cognition-enhancing drugs for schizophrenia. It may also aid evaluation of cognitive remediation strategies.
Nuechterlein
Keith H
KH
Department of Psychology, UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, 300 Medical Plaza, Rm. 2251, Los Angeles, CA 90095-6968, USA. keithn@ucla.edu
Green
Michael F
MF
Kern
Robert S
RS
Baade
Lyle E
LE
Barch
Deanna M
DM
Cohen
Jonathan D
JD
Essock
Susan
S
Fenton
Wayne S
WS
Frese
Frederick J
FJ
Gold
James M
JM
Goldberg
Terry
T
Heaton
Robert K
RK
Keefe
Richard S E
RS
Kraemer
Helena
H
Mesholam-Gately
Raquelle
R
Seidman
Larry J
LJ
Stover
Ellen
E
Weinberger
Daniel R
DR
Young
Alexander S
AS
Zalcman
Steven
S
Marder
Stephen R
SR
D000328:Adult; D026683:Advisory Committees / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000379:methods; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology; D015195:Drug Design; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009315:National Institute of Mental Health (U.S.); D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D014481:United States
D011619:Psychotropic Drugs