Clinical Utility of the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery Judgment Subtest in the Evaluation of Older Adults

Abstract

Objective The purpose of this retrospective archival study was to explore the clinical utility of the Judgment subtest of the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (NAB) in older adults who were referred because of cognitive concerns. Specifically, we were interested in how NAB Judgment covaried with other measures of executive functioning. Method 226 adults, aged 61–89 years (48% dementia, 35% mild cognitive impairment, 18% cognitively intact) completed NAB Judgment. They also completed Trail Making Test (TMT) A and B. In addition, Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF–A) informant and self-reports were obtained to measure executive functioning in daily life. Results Scores on NAB Judgment did not correlate significantly with BRIEF–A informant ratings. However, there was a statistically significant correlation between BRIEF–A informant ratings and TMT B. Better performance on TMT B was associated with fewer informant concerns. Furthermore, subgroups with versus without informant BRIEF–A Metacognition indices in the range of impairment demonstrated a statistically significant difference on TMT B but not on Judgment. Conclusions Executive functioning in older adults should not be assessed using NAB Judgment alone. Such an evaluation should be supplemented with other in-person tests as well as informant ratings of daily functioning.