The Clinical neuropsychologist
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The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence and stability of symptom reporting in a healthy military sample and to develop reliable change indices for two commonly used self-report measures in the military health care system. ⋯ Postconcussion-like symptoms are not unique to mild TBI and are commonly reported in a healthy soldier sample. It is important for clinicians to use normative data when evaluating a service member or veteran and when evaluating the likelihood that a change in symptom reporting is reliable and clinically meaningful.
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The purpose of this research was to examine the predictive validity of a brief, outpatient neuropsychological battery relative to concurrent functional outcomes 1-25 years post traumatic brain injury. ⋯ These findings demonstrate the utility of a brief, outpatient battery in prediction of concurrent outcomes up to 25 years post injury. Given the difficulty in receiving full reimbursement for neuropsychological assessment services, the data provide needed empirical support for use of more economical and efficient testing.
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Despite the progress in HIV treatments, mild forms of cognitive impairment still persist. Brief and sensitive screening tools are needed. We evaluated the accuracy of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) compared to the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) to detect cognitive impairment in HIV-infected participants. ⋯ Our findings suggested that the prognostic performance of the MoCA to detect cognitive impairment among mildly impaired HIV-infected participants was only moderate. Further investigations are needed to identify optimal cognitive tests to screen HIV-infected individuals or to explore whether a combination of cognitive tests might represent a viable alternative to a single screening tool.
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This study examined the clinical utility of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scales-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV) in individuals with complicated mild, moderate or severe TBI. One hundred individuals with TBI (n = 35 complicated mild or moderate TBI; n = 65 severe TBI) and 100 control participants matched on key demographic variables from the WAIS-IV normative dataset completed the WAIS-IV. Univariate analyses indicated that participants with severe TBI had poorer performance than matched controls on all index scores and subtests (except Matrix Reasoning). ⋯ Effect sizes for index and subtest scores were generally small-to-moderate for the group with complicated mild/moderate and moderate-to-large for the group with severe TBI. PSI also showed good sensitivity and specificity for classifying individuals with severe TBI versus controls. Findings provide support for the clinical utility of the WAIS-IV in individuals with complicated mild, moderate, and severe TBI.
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Comparative Study
The Role of Baseline Cognitive Function in the Neurocognitive Effects of Electroconvulsive Therapy in Depressed Elderly Patients.
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective biological treatment option for severely depressed elderly patients; however, it can cause cognitive side effects, including anterograde and retrograde amnesia. Elderly patients with "cognitive impairment no dementia" (CIND) are reported as being more vulnerable to the cognitive side effects of ECT compared with patients with "no cognitive impairment" (NCI). The few studies that have reached this conclusion can be criticized for using insensitive outcome measures. ⋯ CIND patients were not more vulnerable to amnesia than were NCI patients. Long-term cognitive side effects of ECT were not detected.