Neuropsychological Findings in Relapsing-Remitting and Chronic-Progressive Multiple Sclerosis

This study used the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale and an expanded Halstead-Reitan Battery (HRB) to assess neuropsychological functioning in 100 patients who had relapsing-remitting or chronic-progressive courses of multiple sclerosis (MS). The patients were representative of a regional MS clinic...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of consulting and clinical psychology 1985-02, Vol.53 (1), p.103-110
Main Authors: Heaton, Robert K, Nelson, Lorene M, Thompson, David S, Burks, Jack S, Franklin, Gary M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Chronicity (Disorders)
Disability Evaluation
Female
Human
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple Sclerosis - psychology
Neurocognitive Disorders - psychology
Neuropsychological Assessment
Neuropsychological Tests
Relapse (Disorders)
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This study used the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale and an expanded Halstead-Reitan Battery (HRB) to assess neuropsychological functioning in 100 patients who had relapsing-remitting or chronic-progressive courses of multiple sclerosis (MS). The patients were representative of a regional MS clinic population and were clinically stable at the times of testing. Both MS subgroups showed significant neuropsychological impairment, relative to a normal comparison group ( N = 100), but chronic-progressive MS was associated with greater impairment in each major ability domain (cognitive, sensory, motor). In particular, only minimal cognitive impairment was noted in the relapsing-remitting MS subgroup, whereas the chronic-progressive subgroup showed impairment on virtually all cognitive test measures from the expanded HRB. Degree of neuropsychological impairment was significantly correlated with MS duration but was unrelated to medication status. The MS subgroup differences on the test battery could not be attributed to duration of illness, indicating that disease course is an important independent determinant of neuropsychological impairment in MS. Disability ratings from clinical neurological examinations were highly correlated with motor and sensory performances on neuropsychological testing, but clinical exams were inadequate in predicting the patients' cognitive status.
ISSN:0022-006X
1939-2117
DOI:10.1037/0022-006X.53.1.103