Sensitivity of the RBANS to acute traumatic brain injury and length of post-traumatic amnesia

Abstract

Objective: Although the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) has been shown to be a useful tool in evaluating the cognitive status of patients with dementia, stroke, schizophrenia and post-acute traumatic brain injury (TBI), no studies have examined its utility in an acute TBI setting. The current study investigates the RBANS’ sensitivity to acute TBI, hypothesizing that the presence and severity of injury is predictive of worse RBANS performance.Method: Neuropsychological testing was conducted an average of 6.1 days after emergence from post-traumatic amnesia (PTA). RBANS results were evaluated based on a normative basis, pre-injury estimates, and brain injury severity.Results: In this sample of acute TBI patients (n = 51), the mean index scores on the RBANS ranged from 1.59–2.36 SD below the mean of the standardization sample. Each WRAT-4 Reading sub-test score was above the corresponding RBANS Total Scale Index score (t(31) = 10.32, p < 0.001). Regression analyses revealed that Delayed Memory (β = − 0.365, p < 0.007) and Total Score (β = −0.297, p < 0.023) indices were significantly predicted by PTA length after controlling for age and education.Conclusions: The RBANS appears to be a useful tool in assessing the presence and severity of acute TBI.