Screening of Cognitive Impairment in Schizophrenia: Reliability, Sensitivity, and Specificity of the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status in a Spanish Sample.
BACKGROUND
In recent years, a number of studies focusing on the evaluation of neuropsychological deficits in individuals with schizophrenia have shown deficits that include several cognitive functions. Attention deficits as well as memory or executive function deficits are common in this kind of disorder together with sustained attention problems, working memory deficiencies, and problem-solving difficulties, among many others. Currently, the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) is gaining special importance in the evaluation of the cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia.


METHODS
In this article, we describe an RBANS screening in a sample of 88 Spanish patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. We also aimed to check the battery's reliability, sensitivity, and specificity in the studied sample. We performed a comparative study with 88 healthy participants.


RESULTS
The results showed a reliability index value of α = .795 and an item value of α = .762. For total test reliability, we obtained an index value of α = .761 and an item value of α = .762. Sensitivity score was 87.5% and specificity 86.4%.


CONCLUSIONS
RBANS obtained good reliability, sensitivity, and specificity scores and represents a good screening tool in detecting cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia.
University of Cadiz, Puerto Real, Spain gabriel.delatorre@uca.es.
Gabriel G
GG
De la Torre
St. Elizabeth Centre, Herts, UK.
Maria J
MJ
Perez
University of Cadiz, Puerto Real, Spain.
Miguel A
MA
Ramallo
Loyola University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
Christopher
C
Randolph
Tenpore: Neuropsychological Rehabilitation Center, Seville, Spain.
Macarena Bernal
MB
González-Villegas
D000328:Adult; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D013030:Spain; D014175:Translating; D055815:Young Adult
RBANS; Spanish; neurocognitive; schizophrenia; sensitivity; specificity