The relationship between the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) and olfaction in patients referred for a dementia evaluation.

The current study examined the relationship between a standardized dementia battery (Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status [RBANS]) and a test of olfactory discrimination (University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test [UPSIT]) in a heterogeneous sample of patients referred for a dementia assessment (N = 103). Significant moderate correlations were found between the UPSIT and each of the RBANS indexes, with the strongest correlation for Total Scale score, followed by the Delayed Memory Index and the Language Index. Significant moderate correlations were also found between the UPSIT and 11 of the 12 subtests of the RBANS. While the major RBANS indexes demonstrated significant correlations with education and the Wechsler Test of Adult Reading, a measure of premorbid IQ, the UPSIT did not. This suggests the UPSIT may be sensitive to decline in dementia and largely unaffected by premorbid cognitive functioning. As a result, the UPSIT may provide neuropsychologists with an efficient, cost-effective, and sensitive supplement to a standard dementia battery.

Factor analysis of the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) in a large sample of patients suspected of dementia.

The Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS; Randolph, 1998) is a popular neuropsychological assessment instrument with research supporting its clinical utility. However, the index structure of the RBANS was derived theoretically and was not based on factor analysis. The purpose of this study was to examine the factor structure in a large heterogeneous sample of patients referred for a dementia evaluation, using exploratory factor analysis. Results suggest a two-factor solution, the first factor defined predominantly as a memory factor and the second as predominantly a visuospatial factor. This study also sought to validate the obtained factors by examining their relationship with external neuropsychological variables. Correlations between the external variables provide further support for Factor 1 as a memory factor. Correlations with Factor 2 support its visuospatial features, although this factor may also be associated with other cognitive domains such as attention and general ability.