Normative Scores for a Brief Neuropsychological Battery for the Detection of HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorder (HAND) Among South Africans

Authors

Robert H. Paul, UMSLFollow
Dinesh Singh
John A. Joska
Karl Goodkin

Document Type

Article

Keywords

Psychology, Journal Article, Paul Robert, Clinical Psychology, HIV, HAND, Neuropathology

Abstract

There is an urgent need to more accurately diagnose HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND) in Africa. Rapid screening tests for HIV-associated dementia are of limited utility due to variable sensitivity and specificity. The use of selected neuropsychological tests is more appropriate, but norms for HIV seronegative people are not readily available for sub-Saharan African populations. We sought to derive normative scores for two commonly used neuropsychological tests that generate four test scores -- namely the Trail-Making Test (Parts A and B) and the Digit Span Test [Forward (DSF) and Backward (DSB)]. To assess memory and recall, we used the memory item of the International HIV Dementia Scale (IHDS).

Publication Date

2010

DOI

10.1186/1756-0500-3-28

Recommended Citation

Singh, D., Joska, J. A., Goodkin, K., Lopez, E., Myer, L., Paul, R. H., … Sunpath, H. (2010). Normative Scores for a Brief Neuropsychological Battery for the Detection of HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorder (HAND) Among South Africans. BMC Research Notes, 3, 28. https://doi.org/10.1186/1756-0500-3-28