A-192 Preliminary Evidence to Support Use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) during Administration of the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (NAB)

Abstract

Abstract Objective In June 2020, the American Psychological Association acknowledged that use of personal protective equipment (PPE) was key to psychologists safely resuming in-person services. However, there is no empirical evidence on the impact of PPE in delivering the provision of essential mental health services. Of particular concern is the unprecedented use of PPE during psychological assessment, which inherently breaches standardized test administration procedures. The current study provides preliminary evidence to support use of PPE during administration of the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (NAB). Method This is a paired-case control study in which participants were administered the NAB using PPE. These individuals were matched based on age, sex, and education with participants from the same setting who were administered the NAB using standardized test administration procedures. Results Independent samples t-tests were run to determine if there were differences in index scores between the PPE and non-PPE groups. There were no significant differences in the standard scores for the NAB Total Index and all NAB Index scores with the exception of Language. Among the subtests that comprise the Language Index, only T-scores on the Oral Production subtest difference significantly between the PPE and non-PPE groups. Conclusions With the exception of the Language Index, index standard scores for both groups were found to be generally statistically equivalent. Given the sample size and setting limitations, no clear conclusions can be drawn about why performance varied between groups on the Language Index. Nevertheless, these data provide preliminary support for the use of PPE during administration of selected modules of the NAB.