Abstract
Objective
To provide normative values for the Italian population for the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS), a recent brief neuropsychological instrument for the assessment of cognition in patients with schizophrenia.
Participants
Data were collected from 204 healthy adult Italian subjects, stratified by gender, education and age.
Measurements and results
Tests included in the BACS are the following: list learning, digit sequencing, verbal fluency, token motor task, symbol-coding and Tower of London. Normative values were established using the Equivalent Scores method in order to enable comparison with other neuropsychological tasks commonly used in the assessment of the Italian population. Performance on the BACS was influenced by the commonest demographic variables such as age and education.
Conclusions
The availability of normative data for the Italian population will increase the usefulness of this test for both clinical and experimental purposes.
Sommario
Non esistono ad oggi batterie specifiche brevi e facilmente fruibili in lingua italiana per la valutazione del deficit cognitivo dei pazienti con schizofrenia. Lo scopo di questo studio è di tradurre e tarare sulla popolazione italiana la batteria BACS (Brief Assessement of Cognition in Schizophrenia), un breve strumento di screening creato per indagare in modo specifico gli ambiti cognitivi riconosciuti come quelli con le maggiori disfunzioni e correlati ai sintomi della schizofrenia (memoria verbale, velocità e coordinazione psico-motoria, attenzione, funzioni esecutive e fluenza verbale) e che ha mostrato nella validazione in lingua americana una buona correlazione con batterie neuropsicologiche standard e una buona affidabilità testretest. Il campione è costituito da 204 soggetti italiani stratificati per sesso, età e scolarità. I test inclusi nella BACS sono i seguenti: memoria di lista di parole, riordinamento di cifre, fluenza verbale, compito motorio dei gettoni, associazione simboli-numeri e Torre di Londra. I dati normativi sono stati calcolati con il metodo statistico dei Punteggi Equivalenti, con l’obiettivo di rendere possibile il confronto con altri test neuropsicologici usati comunemente in lingua italiana. Le prestazioni alla BACS sono risultate influenzate da variabili demografiche come età e scolarità, confermando i dati presenti in letteratura. La disponibilità di dati normativi per la popolazione italiana ha la potenzialità di aumentare l’utilità di questo test per scopi sia clinici che di ricerca.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Harvey PD, Bowie CR, Friedman JI (2001) Cognition in schizophrenia. Curr Psychiatry Rep 3:423–428
Saykin AJ, Shtasel DL, Gur RE et al (1994) Neuropsychological deficits in neuroleptic naive patients with first-episode schizophrenia. Arch Gen Psychiatry 51:124–131
Keefe RS, Poe M, Walker TM, Harvey PD (2006) The relationship of the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) to functional capacity and real-world functional outcome. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 28:260–269
Harvey PD, Green MF, Keefe RS, Velligan DI (2004) Cognitive functioning in schizophrenia: a consensus statement on its role in the definition and evaluation of effective treatments for the illness. J Clin Psychiatry 65:361–372
Green MF (1996) What are functional consequences of neurocognitive deficits in schizophrenia? Am J Psychiatry 153:321–330
Green MF, Kern RS, Braff DL, Mintz J (2000) Neurocognitive deficits and functional outcome in schizophrenia: are we measuring the right stuff? Schizophr Bull 26:119–136
McGurk SR, Meltzer HY (2000) The role of cognition in vocational functioning in schizophrenia Schizophr Res 45:175–184
Harvey PD, Keefe RS (2001) Studies of cognitive change in patients with schizophrenia following novel antipsychotic treatment. Am J Psychiatry 158:176–184
Folstein MF, Folstein SE, McHugh PR (1975) “Mini-mental state”: a practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. J Psychiatr Res 12:189–198
Levaux MN, Potvin S, Sepehry AA et al (2007) Computerized assessment of cognition in schizophrenia: promises and pitfalls of CANTAB. Eur Psychiatry 22:104–117
Cogtest plc (2002) Cogtest™: computerised cognitive battery for clinical trials. http://www.cogtest.com
Wilk CM, Gold JM, Humber K et al (2004) Brief cognitive assessment in schizophrenia: normative data for the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status. Schizophr Res 70:175–186
Gold JM, Queern C, Iannone VN, Buchanan RW (1999) Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status as a screening test in schizophrenia, I: Sensitivity, reliability, and validity. Am J Psychiatry 156:1944–1950
Keefe RS, Goldberg TE, Harvey PD et al (2004) The Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia: reliability, sensitivity, and comparison with a standard neurocognitive battery. Schizophr Res 68:283–297
Heinrichs RW, Zakzanis KK (1998) Neurocognitive deficit in schizophrenia: a quantitative review of the evidence. Neuropsychology 12:426–445
Capitani E, Laiacona M (1997) Composite neuropsychological batteries and demographic correction: standardization based on equivalent scores, with a review of published data. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 19:795–809
Laiacona M, Inzaghi MG, De Tanti G, Capitani E (2000) Wisconsin card sorting test: a new global score, with Italian norms, and its relationship with the Weigl sorting test. Neurol Sci 21:279–291
Barbarotto R, Laiacona M, Frosio F et al (1998) A normative study on visual reaction times and two Stroop colour-word tests. Ital J Neurol Sci 19:161–170
Caffarra P, Vezzadini G, Zonato F et al (2003) A normative study of a shorter version for Raven’s progressive matrices 1938. Neurol Sci 24:336–339
First MB, Spitzer RL, Gibbon M et al (1997) Structured clinical interview for DSM-IV Clinical Version (SCID-I/CV). American Psychiatric Press, Washington, DC
Laudanna A, Thornton AM, Brown G et al (1995) Un corpus dell’italiano scritto contemporaneo dalla parte del ricevente. In: Bolasco S, Lebart L, Salem A (eds) III Giornate internazionali di Analisi Statistica dei Dati Testuali. Cisu, Rome, pp 103–109
Gladsjo JA, Schuman CC, Evans JD et al (1999) Norms for letter and category fluency: demographic corrections for age, education, and ethnicity. Assessment 6:147–178
Novelli G, Papagno C, Capitani E et al (1986) Tre test clinici di ricerca e produzione lessicale. Taratura su soggetti normali. Arch Psicol Neurol Psichiatria 47:407–416
Ermoli E, Anselmetti S, Bechi M et al (2005) Assessment of psychosis in schizophrenia: neuropsychological profile of chronic schizophrenia. Clin Neuropschiatry 2:243–249
Keefe RES, Eesley CE, Poe MP (2005) Defining a cognitive function decrement in schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry 57:688–691
Goldberg TE, Ragland JD, Torrey EF et al (1990) Neuropsychological assessment of monozygotic twins discordant for schizophrenia. Arch General Psychiatry 47:1066–1072
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Anselmetti, S., Poletti, S., Ermoli, E. et al. The Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia. Normative data for the Italian population. Neurol Sci 29, 85–92 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-008-0866-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-008-0866-9