A comparison of neuropsychological tests for the assessment of chronic toxic encephalopathy

Background From the viewpoint of the clinical neuropsychologist, it is Rot evident if the detection of soh,ent induced to,uic encephalopathy (TE) coul d be optimized by a modification of the traditional test batteries, adding tests covering new dimensions or monitoring further functional domains. Methods To clarify this issue, TE patients were re-examined with (a) the te sts traditionally used in screening for TE and (b) some tests hitherto less utilized within neurotoxicology, involving complex attention and frontal l obe functioning. Results The results do not indicate that tests of the latter category, woul d be more sensitive to TE than the tests traditionally used. Using art opti mized core battery, compiled of tests from both categories, the sensitivity and specificity levels reached a maximum of around 0.7 when using as crite rion the reproduction of a subnormal test profile (TE type 2B). Conclusions A combination of several traditional and a few newer tests is s uggested to optimize the detection of TE. Repeated assessments over time ar e also recommended. Am. J. Iud. Med. 38:666-680, 2000. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.