Assessment of brain impairment with the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test: a comparison with other neuropsychological...

In this study the effectiveness of The Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) at assessing patients with mixed brain impairment was compared with that of a number of other commonly used neuropsychological measures. Subjects were 50 patients with a mixture of medically confirmed neuropathologies, and 50 controls with no evidence of neurological history. Groups were equated for age, education, and sex. The AVLT was administered as pan of a full neuropsychological battery. Results indicated that all seven AVLT recall trials and the total of Trials I-V could significantly differentiate between the two groups (p <.001). The AVLT trial V score performed best (U = 457.5, p <.0001), correctly predicting group membership for 74% of the subjects. This hit-rate was better than any other single test on the Halstead-Reitan or Dodrill batteries, and was surpassed only by the Dodrill Discrimination Index. The potential usefulness of this test as part of a neuropsychological battery is discussed.