Test-retest Reliability and Practice Effects of the Turkish Version of Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) in Healthy Persons

Abstract

Objective:The Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) is a widely used screening instrument in neuropsychological assessment. The present study aims to assess the reliability and practice effects of the Turkish version of the RBANS Form A in healthy persons. Methods: Data from 95 healthy volunteers (actively working and living in Ankara) were obtained. The subjects (48 M, 47 F) were between 20 and 49 years of age. The educational background of the subjects is characterized as follows: 33 subjects graduated from primary school (5-8 years), 33 from high school (9-11 years), and 29 from university (12+ years).Time period between test and retest ranged from 28 to 43 days. For the inter-rater reliability coefficient, 2 trained scorers blindly scored 51 random standardization samples for figure copy/recall subtests. Test-retest stability coefficients were assessed by Pearson correlation coefficient. Practice effect was assessed by paired t test and effect sizes. For internal consistency, Cronbach's a was calculated. Results: The test-retest coefficients ranged from 0.59 to 0.88 for the indices and from 0.45 to 0.93 for the subtests. Figure copy (p=0.90), picture naming (p=0.56), semantic fluency (p=0.36) subtests and visuospatial/constructional (p=0.42), language indices (p=0.19), and mean differences in change scores were minimal. For the other subtests and index scores, the differences between the tests were significant (p<0.05). Except for figure copy, picture naming, and semantic fluency subtests, all subtests and immediate memory, attention, delayed memory indices showed practice effects (effect size >0.10). Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the RBANS was 0.86. The figure copy and figure recall subtests' inter-rater reliability coefficients were 0.83 and 0.84, respectively (both p<0.001). Conclusions: The Turkish version of the RBANS (form A) showed adequate reliability, and it can be used as a short screening tool for neuropsychological performance.