A brief neuropsychological battery for use in the chronic heart failure population

Background: Cognitive impairment is a recognized consequence of heart failure; however, there are no neuropsychological batteries with documented psychometric data in the chronic heart failure population. Aims: To document the psychometric properties of a brief neuropsychological battery in a chronic heart failure sample. Methods: The Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status, Trail Making Test Part A and Part B, and letter fluency was administered to a sample of individuals with chronic heart failure. Results: Eighty individuals with stable heart failure participated in this study. Individuals with chronic heart failure scored significantly lower than expected age and education adjusted norms in the domains of attention (p < 0.001), memory (p < 0.001), language (p < 0.001), executive function (p < 0.001), and psychomotor speed (p = 0.02). Scores on the tests of memory and executive function correlated to functional status (r = 0.28, p = 0.02 and r = 0.29, p = 0.03, respectively). Acceptable convergent validity and test-retest reliability were documented for this battery. Conclusion: The neuropsychological battery had adequate reliability and validity in individuals with chronic heart failure.