Detection of Major and Mild Neurocognitive Disorder with the Verbal Naming Test

Abstract

The Verbal Naming Test (VNT) is an auditory-based measure of naming or word finding. The current multisite study sought to evaluate the reliability and validity of the VNT in the detection of major and mild neurocognitive disorder (NCD). This study analyzed clinical data from two outpatient neuropsychology clinics (N = 188 and N = 77) and a geriatric primary care clinic (N = 104). Cronbach's alpha and Spearman correlations with other measures were calculated. ROC analyses were used to calculate sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive power, and negative predictive power for the detection of major and mild NCD per DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition) criteria. The VNT was found to have strong reliability (Cronbach's alpha = .90) and high convergent validity with a commonly used picture-naming task (NAB Naming, Spearman's rho = .65, p < .001). The VNT showed good sensitivity and specificity for the detection of NCDs, particularly major NCD, with an area under the curve of .85, sensitivity of .80, and specificity of .75. A possible discontinue rule is also suggested for clinicians to use. These findings provide compelling evidence for the use of the VNT to detect neurocognitive impairment in a clinical setting. The VNT provides a reliable alternative to picture-naming tasks, which may be advantageous when working with visually impaired patients or conducting evaluations over telehealth.