title: The Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia. Normative data for the Italian population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To provide normative values for the Italian population for the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS), a recent brief neuropsychological instrument for the assessment of cognition in patients with schizophrenia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were collected from 204 healthy adult Italian subjects, stratified by gender, education and age.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Tests included in the BACS are the following: list learning, digit sequencing, verbal fluency, token motor task, symbol-coding and Tower of London. Normative values were established using the Equivalent Scores method in order to enable comparison with other neuropsychological tasks commonly used in the assessment of the Italian population. Performance on the BACS was influenced by the commonest demographic variables such as age and education.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The availability of normative data for the Italian population will increase the usefulness of this test for both clinical and experimental purposes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University Scientific Hospital, Via Stamira d'Ancona 20, 20127, Milan, Italy. anselmetti.simona@hsr.it
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Anselmetti
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Poletti
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ermoli
authors.forename: Margherita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bechi
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cappa
authors.forename: Annalena
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Venneri
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Smeraldi
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cavallaro
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007361:Intelligence Tests / Q000592:standards; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000592:standards*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012016:Reference Values; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology