Identifying functional impairment with scores from the repeatable battery for the assessment of neuropsychological status (RBANS)

Objective: To examine the link between RBANS scores and functional impairment. Functional status was evaluated through informant report using the clinical dementia rating (CDR) scale. Methods: Archival data were reviewed from records of 99 patients in a memory disorder clinic (MDC) research database. Consensus-based diagnoses were Alzheimer's disease (AD; n=48), mild cognitive impairment (MCI; n=48), AD with vascular components; (n=2) and dementia due to psychiatric conditions (n=1). Results: The RBANS language index score was significantly related to CDR domain scores of community affairs ( p<.01), home and hobbies ( p<.01), personal care ( p<.05), memory ( p<0.01), and judgment ( p<0.01). RBANS immediate memory index scores were significantly related to ( p<0.05) the CDR Memory and judgment and problem solving domains. Based on these findings, follow-up regressions were conducted. Semantic fluency was significantly related to CDR memory ( p<0.01), judgment ( p<0.05), community affairs ( p<0.05), home/hobbies ( p<0.05), and personal care ( p<0.05) functional domains. Picture naming was significantly related to the CDR personal care domain ( p<0.05). List learning was significantly related to CDR memory functional domain ( p<0.01) and judgment ( p<0.05). Lastly, story memory was significantly related to the CDR judgment domain ( p<0.05). Conclusions: The RBANS may be an indicator of functional impairment as well as a neuropsychological testing tool. The use of the RBANS could reduce the amount of testing that is administered to the patient, or can provide a way to compare other measurements of functional impairment to assess accuracy of findings.