title: [Brief Neuropsychological Battery for multiple sclerosis. Normative data stratified by age and educational level].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Interpretation of the performance on cognitive tests for neuropsychological assessment in multiple sclerosis (MS) differs according to the educational level of the examinee.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To provide normative data for the Brief Neuropsychological Battery (BNB) for MS stratified by age and education, as well as to demonstrate the utility of the battery for discriminating between healthy controls and patients with MS.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from 701 healthy volunteers from the original normative sample were stratified by age and education using regression analyses of standard scores. Performance of the healthy control group was compared to a group of 112 patients with MS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant differences on the BNB were found between groups, mainly in tasks of information processing speed, working memory and verbal memory. Age and sex variables did not have a significant effect on the results.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data indicate that the BNB for MS is sensitive for identifying cognitive impairments in MS, specifically in tasks measuring working memory.
authors.affiliation: Hospital Universitario Virgen Macarena, 41003 Sevilla, Espana.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Duque
authors.affiliation: Hospital Santa Maria del Rosell, 30203 Cartagena, Espana.|Universidad de Alicante, 03080 Alicante, Espana.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Oltra-Cucarella
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigacion Biomedica de Malaga. IBIMA, Malaga, Espana.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Fernandez
authors.affiliation: Harvard University, Cambridge, EE.UU.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sepulcre
authors.forename: Grupo de Estudio de la Bateria Neuropsicologica Breve En la Esclerosis Multiple
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Grupo de Estudio de la Bateria Neuropsicologica Breve En la Esclerosis Multiple
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001288:Attention; D001307:Auditory Perception; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000523:psychology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013064:Speech Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D014706:Verbal Learning; D055815:Young Adult