Detection of neuropsychological impairment among substance-abusing patients: accuracy of the neurobehavioral cognitive status examination
Fals-Stewart, W.
Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology 5(3): 269-276
1997
ISSN/ISBN: 1064-1297
PMID: 9260075
DOI: 10.1037/1064-1297.5.3.269
Accession: 008441018
The accuracy of the Neurobehavioral Cognitive Status Examination (NCSE) in detecting the presence of cognitive impairment among substance-abusing patients was examined. The NCSE and the Neuropsychological Screening Battery (NSB), which has been shown in previous studies to discriminate reliably between cognitively impaired and intact substance-abusing patients, were administered to 51 detoxified patients. Using participants' performances on the NSB as the criterion measure, 22 (43%) were found to be cognitively impaired. The NCSE identified only 8 of these 22 patients (36%) as being impaired; additionally, 4 of the 29 patients found to be cognitively intact by the NSB (14%) were classified as impaired by the NCSE. Thus, the false-negative rate of the NCSE is too high to recommend its use with substance-abusing patients.