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The repeatable battery for the assessment of the neuropsychological status (RBANS): a diagnostic validity study in Greek elderly

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Abstract

Objective

There is a broad need for a rapid and efficient neurocognitive battery to detect cognitive decline and differentiate MCI (mild cognitive impairment) and mild dementia from cognitively intact elders. The purpose of this study is to create a version of the repeatable battery for the assessment of neuropsychological status (RBANS) for the Greek population.

Method

One hundred and sixty-three (163) adults, including healthy controls (HC), MCI and patients with mild dementia, irrespective etiology, were recruited from the day centers of Greek Alzheimer Association after having followed the diagnostic procedure set by the DSM V. The three groups of our sample were matched for age, gender, and education.

Results

The Greek RBANS had satisfactory internal reliability, as it yielded the satisfactory coefficient of 0.914. According to the criterion validity, the sensitivity of the RBANS Total score to discriminate controls from patients with mild dementia was 0.94, whereas the specificity was 0.97. In addition, RBANS was also able to discriminate HC from MCI population (sensitivity = 0.87, specificity = 0.81) and MCI from patients with mild dementia (sensitivity = 0.91, specificity = 0.97).

Conclusions

The current data suggest that the Greek version of RBANS is both a valid and reliable psychometric tool, as well as sensitive for detecting cognitive impairment in MCI and early dementia, irrespective etiology. Therefore, taken into account that it revealed coherence in discriminating HC from clinical population, it should be utilized as a neuropsychological screening battery in Greek elders in clinical practice, and also in research protocols.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Greek Alzheimer Association, K. Karamanli 164, PC 54248, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Marianna Tsatali & Magda Tsolaki

  2. Chariseio Nursing Home for Elderly, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Foteini Fotiadou

  3. Department of Psychology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Georgios Giaglis

  4. 1st Department of Neurology, Medical school, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Magda Tsolaki

Authors
  1. Marianna Tsatali
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  2. Foteini Fotiadou
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  3. Georgios Giaglis
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  4. Magda Tsolaki
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Correspondence to Marianna Tsatali.

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Conflict of interest

Tsatali Marianna declares that she has no conflict of interest. Foteini Fotiadou declares that she has no conflict of interest. Georgios Giaglis declares that he has no conflict of interest. Magda Tsolaki declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Tsatali, M., Fotiadou, F., Giaglis, G. et al. The repeatable battery for the assessment of the neuropsychological status (RBANS): a diagnostic validity study in Greek elderly. Aging Clin Exp Res 31, 1305–1312 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-018-1076-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-018-1076-9

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