Assessment of cognitive functions in patients with multiple sclerosis applying the normative values of the Rao’s brief repeatable battery in the Portuguese population

BACKGROUND: The Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological Tests (BRBN-T) is one of the most sensitive and used measures for detecting cognitive impairment in Multiple Sclerosis (MS). OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to adapt and validate this battery to the Portuguese population of MS patients. METHODS: The Portuguese version of the BRBN-T was applied to a stratified control national sample of 326 individuals considering sex, age, educational level and geographic location and also a clinical sample of 115 MS patients from several national hospitals. Through the exploration of its psychometrics properties, the Portuguese BRBN-T norms were produced. RESULTS: The normative data is presented as a regression-based formula to adjust test scores for gender, education and age, and the results reveal the BRBN-T has the ability to differentiate between MS patients and healthy participant’s cognitive performance. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated in our clinical population a good ability to detect cognitive impairment. Its clearly contributed to reinforcing the neuropsychological assessment in Portugal in patients with MS, by providing a new set of instruments, which can be used in the clinical practice, and in future studies. Moreover, it will allow a rigorous and precise support in relation to neuropsychological assessment for future longitudinal studies and clinical trials.