Eight-Day Temporal Stability of the Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metric (ANAM) in a Deployment Environment

Appl Neuropsychol Adult. 2015;22(4):304-10. doi: 10.1080/23279095.2014.926454. Epub 2014 Dec 22.

Abstract

Automated neurocognitive tests are commonly used by military providers for making clinical decisions about the recovery of postconcussive cognitive sequelae. This practice often utilizes baseline assessments that precede the concussive injury. As such, investigating and establishing the psychometrics of an instrument is necessary to minimize confounds for interpreting assessment scores. Test-retest reliability (TRR) values for an 8.3 ± 2-day retest window for the Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics-Version 4 (ANAM) were calculated in 86 healthy U.S. Army soldiers deployed to Iraq. After removal of outliers, all but 1 subtest, Simple Reaction Time, had adequate or greater TRR values (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.72-0.86). The findings suggest that overall, the ANAM has good temporal stability when the retesting intertrial interval is less than 11 days while in a deployed environment.

Keywords: ANAM; military; neurocognitive; test–retest reliability.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Cognition / physiology*
  • Electronic Data Processing
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Iraq War, 2003-2011
  • Male
  • Mass Screening
  • Middle Aged
  • Military Personnel / psychology*
  • Neuropsychological Tests*
  • Reaction Time
  • Time Factors
  • United States
  • Young Adult