ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to determine the validity and the of the Neurobehavioral Cognitive Status Examination(NCSE) to ascertain its value in the cognitive functional evaluation of brain-injured patients. The NCSE, uses as an independent test to evaluate cognitive function within five major areas: language, construction, memory, calculation, and reasoning. And the examination separately assesses levels of consciousness, orientation, and attention. The instrument quickly identifies intact areas of functioning, yet provides more detailed assessment in areas of dysfunction. The level of cognitive is classified as unimpaired and mild, moderate, severe impaired. Standardization data are provided for 42 braininjured patients, age ranged from 24 to 76 years. In the validity study, the NCSE subtest was significantly correlated with associated Mini Mental State Examination-Korean version(MMSE-K) test, except for attention, naming, construction. The specificity score of the traumatic brain-injured patients were higher than those of the stroke patient group in attention, construction, calculation. The mean score of stroke patients were significantly higher than those of the traumatic brain-injured group in orientation.In the inter-rater and test-retest reliability, the screen Kendall's τb and Metry pearson's correlation statistics were indicating a good internal consistency. The NCSE demonstratedan acceptable validity and reliability for the evaluation of cognitive functional capacity of brain-injured patients in clinical practice.