No Effect of Deployment Environment in Establishing Baseline Neurocognitive Scores in U.S. Army Soldiers

With heavy reliance on neurocognitive testing for concussion status assessments in the U.S. warfighter, there is a need to investigate the impact of testing environment on neurocognitive functioning. The current study compared scores on computerized neurocognitive tests of 166 soldiers who were deployed to Iraq. Predeployment baseline scores (n = 53) were compared to baseline scores collected while deployed (n = 113) on the battery of tests. There was no significant difference between baseline scores acquired from the predeployment group versus the deployed group. Furthermore, only one subtest revealed a significant difference in change scores from the follow-up test session when comparing the location of initial baseline testing. The results suggest that testing environment does not significantly influence baseline neurocognitive testing. The findings also provide support for the use of neurocognitive testing in a deployment environment.