Neuropsychological Outcome of Head Injury Using a Short Battery

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate that a semi-flexible neuropsychological test battery would accurately identify and discriminate head trauma severity levels. In addition, it was intended to demonstrate that this same battery could discriminate head trauma individuals from individuals with other diagnoses. Participants were patients referred for a neuropsychological evaluation. All patients were administered a battery of tests taking approximately 3 hours. It was found that the semi-flexible battery was able to differentiate patients grouped into six different severity levels of loss of consciousness (LOC). In addition, the battery was able to differentiate patients with diagnoses including mental health diagnosis, CVA, dementia, and head trauma. These results support previous findings, but utilized a semi-flexible test battery to do so. This shorter battery is beneficial to patient, neuropsychologists, and managed care providers alike.