A brief clinical neuropsychologic battery: clinical classification trials

Based upon non-neuropsychological evaluative data, 150 neuropsychiatric referrals were classified independently into Definite (DBD), Suspected (SBD), or No Brain Damage (NBD) groups. Each S was examined with a brief, 2-hour neuropsychologic battery and the test data clinically rated by two neuropsychologists, blind to group membership. Clinical classifications were compared with criteria for NBD vs. SBD + DBD, NDB vs. SBD, and SBD vs. DBD groupings. Hit rates ranged from 83.3% for the former to 64.3% for the latter. These results compared favorably with hit rates derived from statistical classification trials. Clinicians also classified SBD and DBD cases into one of eight different diagnostic categories. The overall hit rate was 61.3%.