Neuropsychological assessment battery (NAB): Performance in a sample of patients with moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury

The Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (NAB; Stern White, 2003) is a comprehensive test battery that assesses five cognitive domains (Attention, Language, Memory, Spatial, and Executive Functions). The purpose of the current descriptive study was to present data on the index and primary test scores from the five main NAB cognitive modules in a sample of patients with moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) admitted to a residential postacute rehabilitation program. Twenty patients were administered all five main NAB modules upon recommendation from the NAB Screening module. The sample performed significantly worse than normal on tests that assess selective and divided attention, psychomotor speed, verbal memory, and cognitive flexibility. The largest proportion of patients performing below an established impairment cutoff (10th percentile) occurred on the Numbers and Letters, List Learning, Story Learning, Daily Living Memory, and Categories Tests. Significant performance decrements were not observed on any indices or tests from the Language or Spatial cognitive domain modules. The pattern of performance on the NAB demonstrated by the current sample is consistent with the neuropsychological profile observed in postacute patients with moderate-to-severe TBI without focal deficits (e.g., aphasia), demonstrating its relative sensitivity in this patient population. A comparison between the current study sample and a related clinical sample from the NAB standardization data is discussed.