Effects of examiner error on neuropsychological test results in a multi-site study.
This study compared the difference between original and "corrected" neuropsychological test scores at baseline and following 1 year of experience in 17 non-psychology trained examiners. Test protocols were reviewed for errors in instruction, administration, recording, and scoring. Fewer than 3% of the test scaled scores showed a correction of greater than 1 SD. At baseline, individual test scores that changed T-score classification occurred on Digit Symbol, Trails B, and Logical Memory I and II. At one year, significant classification changes remained for Logical Memory I and II (25% and 15%). Scoring of subjective tests remains problematic and centralized re-scoring is recommended.
Kozora
E
E
Denver Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Eastern Colorado Health Care System, Denver, CO, USA. Kozorae@njc.org
Kongs
S
S
Hampton
M
M
Zhang
Lening
L
D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*