Faculty Bibliography

OBJECTIVE: To determine changes in depression and anxiety after resective surgery. METHODS: Data from subjects enrolled in a prospective multicenter study of resective epilepsy surgery were reviewed with the Beck Psychiatric Symptoms Scales (Beck Depression Inventory [BDI] and Beck Anxiety Inventory [BAI]) and Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) up to a 24-month period. chi2 analyses were used to correlate proportions. RESULTS: A total of 358 presurgical BDI and 360 BAI results were reviewed. Moderate and severe levels of depression were reported in 22.1% of patients, and similar levels of anxiety were reported by 24.7%. Postoperative rates of depression and anxiety declined at the 3-, 12-, and 24-month follow-up periods. At the 24-month follow-up, moderate to severe levels of depression symptoms were reported in 17.6 and 14.7% of the patients who continued to have postoperative seizures. Moderate to severe depression and anxiety were found in 8.2% of those who were seizure-free. There was no relationship, prior to surgery, between the presence or absence of depression and anxiety and the laterality or location of the seizure onset. There were no significant relationships between depression or anxiety at 24-month follow-up and the laterality or location of the surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Depression and anxiety in patients with refractory epilepsy significantly improve after epilepsy surgery, especially in those who are seizure-free. Neither the lateralization nor the localization of the seizure focus or surgery was associated with the risk of affective symptoms at baseline or after surgery

Objective: Neuropsychological (NP) testing has been used for several years as a way of detecting the effects of sport-related concussion in order to aid in return-to-play determinations. In addition to standard pencil-and-paper tests, computerized NP tests are being commercially marketed for this purpose to professional, collegiate, high school, and elementary school programs. However, a number of important questions regarding the clinical validity and utility of these tests remain unanswered, and these questions present serious challenges to the applicability of NP testing for the management of sport-related concussion. Our purpose is to outline the criteria that should be met in order to establish the utility of NP instruments as a tool in the management of sport-related concussion and to review the degree to which existing tests have met these criteria.Data Sources: A comprehensive literature review of MEDLINE and PsychLit from 1990 to 2004, including all prospective, controlled studies of NP testing in sport-related concussion.Data Synthesis: The effects of concussion on NP test performance are so subtle even during the acute phase of injury (1-3 days postinjury) that they often fail to reach statistical significance in group studies. Thus, this method may lack utility in individual decision making because of a lack of sensitivity. In addition, most of these tests fail to meet other psychometric criteria (eg, adequate reliability) necessary for this purpose. Finally, it is unclear that NP testing can detect impairment in players once concussion-related symptoms (eg, headache) have resolved. Because no current guideline for the management of sport-related concussion allows a symptomatic player to return to sport, the incremental utility of NP testing remains questionable.Conclusions/Recommendations: Despite the theoretic rationale for the use of NP testing in the management of sport-related concussion, no NP tests have met the necessary criteria to support a clinical application at this time. Additional research is necessary to establish the utility of these tests before they can be considered part of a routine standard of care, and concussion recovery should be monitored via the standard clinical examination and subjective symptom checklists until NP testing or other methods are proven effective for this purpose

The present study surveyed assessment practices and test usage patterns among clinical neuropsychologists. Respondents were 747 North American, doctorate-level psychologists (40% usable response rate) affiliated with Division 40 of the American Psychological Association (APA), the National Academy of Neuropsychology (NAN), or the International Neuropsychological Society (INS). Respondents first provided basic demographic and practice-related information and reported their most frequently utilized instruments. Overall, the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scales and Wechsler Memory Scales were most frequently used, followed by the Trail Making Test, California Verbal Learning Test, and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. Respondents also reviewed a vignette about a traumatic brain injury patient, and then reported the instruments they would use to assess this patient's specific cognitive symptomatology, general cognitive ability, and capacity to return to work. Particular attention was paid to the areas of memory, attention, and executive functioning. The current study represents the largest and most comprehensive test usage survey conducted to date within the field of clinical neuropsychology. Survey results update and greatly expand knowledge about neuropsychologists' assessment practices. Following a review of findings, results are compared to those obtained in prior surveys and implications for the field of neuropsychology are discussed