Alternate Forms of the Boston Naming Test in Alzheimer's Disease

Abstract

A 15-item version of the Boston Naming Test (BNT) is used as a measure of language ability in the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's disease (CERAD) battery. The purpose of this study was to examine the rate of agreement between the 15-item BNT and the full 60-item BNT in the classification of language impairment in 58 patients meeting NINCDS/ADRDA criteria for probable Alzheimer's disease (AD). All patients were administered both versions of the BNT and were classified as normal, borderline, or impaired. The null hypothesis of independence of classification was examined using a chi-square analysis and Pearson's correlation. Although the two versions of the BNT were strongly associated (r = .83), the rate of agreement between the 15-item and 60-item BNT was only 70% in classifying patients as impaired on language abilities. These findings suggest poor criterion validity of the 15-item version of the BNT used on the CERAD battery compared to the full 60-item BNT in correctly classifying language abilities in patients with AD.