title: Validity of the California Verbal Learning Test-II in multiple sclerosis.
abstract: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease of the central nervous system where roughly 50% of patients exhibit cognitive impairment. Episodic memory defects are particularly common in MS and the California Verbal Learning Test: 2nd Edition (CVLT-II) was recommended for assessment in MS in a recently published consensus position paper. We investigated the validity of the CVLT-II in 351 MS patients and 69 demographically matched normal controls. MS patients performed significantly more poorly on 18 of the 23 measures examined. In addition to a general memory factor, factor analysis revealed five distinct factors conforming to measures of consolidation, primary/recency effect, proactive interference, and learning asymptote. The external validity of the CVLT-II was also supported by logistic regression analysis, which separated employed from work-disabled MS patients. We conclude that the CVLT-II is a valid test in MS and provides a rich constellation of verbal memory measures.
authors: Department of Neurology, State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA.
authors: Shane
authors: S
authors: Stegen
authors: Igor
authors: I
authors: Stepanov
authors: Diane
authors: D
authors: Cookfair
authors: Eben
authors: E
authors: Schwartz
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Hojnacki
authors: Bianca
authors: B
authors: Weinstock-Guttman
authors: Ralph H B
authors: RH
authors: Benedict
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000150:complications*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012153:Retention, Psychology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014706:Verbal Learning; D055815:Young Adult