A short version of Rao's Brief Repeatable Battery as a screening tool for cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis

Rao's Brief Repeatable Battery (BRB) is the most widely used instrument for cognitive evaluation in multiple sclerosis (MS). We assessed a short version of the BRB in 116 relapsing-remitting participants. We found that the administration of three tests, the Selective Reminding Test, the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test-3 seconds and the Symbol Digit Modalities Test, was able to detect cognitive impairment with a sensitivity of 94%, a specificity of 84%, and an accuracy of 89%. On the basis of these results we developed a screening algorithm requiring 5 to 15 minutes, which may represent a highly sensitive and rapid tool to detect MS-associated cognitive impairment.