The utility of the Luria Battery for Neuropsychological Diagnosis of Adults

Abstract

espanolActualmente existen diferentes herramientas basadas en el enfoque de evaluacion neuropsicologica de Luria, pero los datos empiricos sobre las poblaciones espanolas son limitados. El objetivo principal de este estudio es revisar evidencias cientificas sobre las propiedades psicometricas del Luria Diagnostico Neuropsicologico de Adultos (Luria DNA). Este estudio agregativo revisa sistematicamente 14 investigaciones cientificas (articulos y tesis doctorales) utilizando la “Luria DNA”. De acuerdo con esta revision, la bateria “Luria DNA” permite detectar cambios neuropsicologicos en personas con diferentes tipos de patologias y discapacidad intelectual. Sin embargo, las evidencias normativas y clinicas son aun escasas. Se hacen necesarias futuras investigaciones para aclarar la sensibilidad y la especificidad de esta bateria para discriminar entre personas mayores con deterioro cognitivo y personas cognitivamente sanas. EnglishCurrently there are various tools based on Luria’s neuropsychological assessment approach, but the empirical data on Spanish populations are limited. The main objective of this study is to review the scientific evidence on the psychometric properties of the Luria Spanish Battery for the Neuropsychological Diagnosis of Adults (Luria DNA). This aggregative study systematically reviews 14 scientific investigations (articles and doctoral dissertations) that use the Luria DNA. According to this review, the Luria DNA battery allows the detection of neuropsychological changes in people with different types of pathologies and intellectual disability. However, the normative evidence and clinical data are still scarce. Further investigations are needed in order to clarify the sensitivity and specificity of this battery in discriminating between older individuals with cognitive impairment and those that are cognitively healthy.