The Utility of the Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological Status in Patients with Temporal and Non-temporal Lobe Epilepsy.

Objective: The Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) is a brief neuropsychological battery that has been validated in the assessment of dementia and other clinical populations. The current study examines the utility of the RBANS in patients with epilepsy.

Methods: Ninety-eight patients with epilepsy completed the RBANS as part of a more comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation.

Reliable Digit Span: Does it Adequately Measure Suboptimal Effort in an Adult Epilepsy Population?

Objective: Assessment of performance validity is a necessary component of any neuropsychological evaluation. Prior research has shown that cutoff scores of ≤6 or ≤7 on Reliable Digit Span (RDS) can detect suboptimal effort across numerous adult clinical populations; however, these scores have not been validated for that purpose in an adult epilepsy population. This investigation aims to determine whether these previously established RDS cutoff scores could detect suboptimal effort in adults with epilepsy.

Assessing the criterion validity of four highly abbreviated measures from the Minimal Assessment of Cognitive Function in Multiple Sclerosis (MACFIMS).

Objective: Cognitive dysfunction is prevalent in multiple sclerosis. As self-reported cognitive functioning is unreliable, brief objective screening measures are needed. Utilizing widely used full-length neuropsychological tests, this study aimed to establish the criterion validity of highly abbreviated versions of the Brief Visuospatial Memory Test - Revised (BVMT-R), Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) Sorting Test, and Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT) in order to begin developing an MS-specific screening battery.

Psychological and physical predictors of illness intrusiveness in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Physical disability as well as psychological factors may contribute to illness intrusiveness. The aim of this study was to determine if level of disability, anxiety, and depression predicted illness intrusiveness in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). A second aim of this study was to determine if anxiety and depression moderated the impact of disability on illness intrusiveness.

The Multiple Sclerosis Intimacy and Sexuality Questionnaire -- re-validation and development of a 15-item version with a large US sample.

Background: Sexual dysfunction is common in multiple sclerosis (MS) but reliable and valid measurement in this population is needed.

Objective: The objective of this research is to re-validate the Multiple Sclerosis Intimacy and Sexuality Questionnaire-19 in a large US sample.

Methods: A total of 6300 MS patients from the NARCOMS registry completed the MSISQ-19.