C Billard1, B Ducot, F Pinton, D Coste-Zeitoun, S Picard, J Warszawski. 1. Service de neuropédiatrie, centre de référence sur les troubles du langage et des apprentissages, hôpital Bicêtre, Assistance publique-hôpitaux-de-Paris, 78, rue du Général-Leclerc, 94275 Kremlin-Bicêtre, France. catherine.billard@bct.ap-hop-paris.fr
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The BREV battery (Battery for rapid evaluation of cognitive functions) is a tool which can be used for the rapid neuropsychological evaluation of children aged between 4 and 9 years. OBJECTIVES: After standardization (700 unaffected children) and validation by comparison with a reference battery (202 children with epilepsy), the aim of this study was further validation in 173 children with learning disorders. POPULATION AND METHODS: The study protocol included administration of the BREV, precise neuropsychological examination and evaluation of oral and written language. Statistical analysis was used to compare the findings of the BREV with those of the reference method, and the recommendations indicated by the BREV with the final diagnoses, and to define the sensitivity and the specificity of the BREV battery. RESULTS: All the correlations between BREV tests and reference tests were significant. Recommendations after the BREV were in agreement with the conclusions of the reference evaluation in 168/172 children for language, 145/173 for the psychometric evaluation. For only 4 chidren, the results of the BREV were false negative. Diagnoses corresponded in 168/173 children for oral language, in 102/110 for written language, 166/173 for praxis disorders and 157/173 for intellectual deficit. The most predictive subtests of the BREV and sensitivity and specificity of verbal and non-verbal scores were calculated. CONCLUSION: The BREV is a reliable examination, in learning disorders, to determine the most complementary investigations both in terms of language disorders and for non-verbal or global learning disabilities.
INTRODUCTION: The BREV battery (Battery for rapid evaluation of cognitive functions) is a tool which can be used for the rapid neuropsychological evaluation of children aged between 4 and 9 years. OBJECTIVES: After standardization (700 unaffected children) and validation by comparison with a reference battery (202 children with epilepsy), the aim of this study was further validation in 173 children with learning disorders. POPULATION AND METHODS: The study protocol included administration of the BREV, precise neuropsychological examination and evaluation of oral and written language. Statistical analysis was used to compare the findings of the BREV with those of the reference method, and the recommendations indicated by the BREV with the final diagnoses, and to define the sensitivity and the specificity of the BREV battery. RESULTS: All the correlations between BREV tests and reference tests were significant. Recommendations after the BREV were in agreement with the conclusions of the reference evaluation in 168/172 children for language, 145/173 for the psychometric evaluation. For only 4 chidren, the results of the BREV were false negative. Diagnoses corresponded in 168/173 children for oral language, in 102/110 for written language, 166/173 for praxis disorders and 157/173 for intellectual deficit. The most predictive subtests of the BREV and sensitivity and specificity of verbal and non-verbal scores were calculated. CONCLUSION: The BREV is a reliable examination, in learning disorders, to determine the most complementary investigations both in terms of language disorders and for non-verbal or global learning disabilities.