Test-retest stability of the behavioural assessment of the dysexecutive syndrome in a sample of psychiatric patients.

The Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome (BADS) is a relatively new test battery designed to measure disorders of executive functions. We studied the temporal stability of the BADS in a sample of 22 adult psychiatric patients. All patients were administered the BADS twice with an interval of 3 weeks. Test-retest correlations for the BADS tests ranged from .22 to .85. On the repeat administration, patients obtained higher scores on one test as well as on the total BADS. Our results suggest that the BADS should not be administered on two occasions a few weeks apart.