Recognition Subtests for Form B of the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status: Preliminary Validation.

Objective: Develop and preliminarily validate recognition subtests for Form B of the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS).

Method: 49 older adults with no cognitive impairment were compared to 53 individuals with a primary neurocognitive disorder (e.g., dementia, mild cognitive impairment, and traumatic brain injury) and 22 individuals with a primary psychiatric disorder (e.g., depression and anxiety) on three recognition subtests (list, story, and figure) for Form B of the RBANS in this observational study.

Results: The individuals with a primary neurocognitive disorder performed significantly poorer on most of the recognition scores compared to those with no cognitive impairment and those with a primary psychiatric disorder, with these latter two groups being largely comparable. In the entire sample, for the recognition subtests, education only correlated with figure recognition scores, and neither age nor gender influenced recognition scores. The RBANS indexes correlated with most of the recognition scores in the expected directions.

Conclusions: The group differences in performance on these recognition subtests preliminarily validate these scores on Form B, which were not previously available. Furthermore, these scores tended to not be influenced by age, education, or gender, although they were related to overall cognitive functioning. Additional validation is needed in larger, better clinically-defined, and more diverse samples. Nonetheless, these findings support the inclusion of the newly-developed Form B recognition subtests in future clinical practice and research settings to enhance the accuracy of diagnoses and treatment recommendations.