INTERMEDIATE LENGTH NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL SCREENING OF IMPAIRMENT AMONG PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCE-ABUSING PATIENTS - A COMPARISON OF 2 BATTERIES

Two intermediate-length neuropsychological test batteries-the Brain Ag e Quotient-T Scored (BAQ-T) and the Neuropsychological Screening Batte ry (NSB)-were used to evaluate the cognitive functioning of substance- abusing patients. Patients entering residential treatment for substanc e abuse (n = 30) performed significantly worse on both batteries compa red to demographically similar participants from a nonclinical control group (n = 30). Both batteries categorized over one third of the subs tance-abusing patients as cognitively impaired; the chance-corrected a greement (kappa) of the BAQ-T and NSB in classifying participants as e ither cognitively impaired or intact was satisfactory. The comparative merits and limitations of each battery are discussed.