Comparing Boston naming test short forms in a rehabilitation sample

The Boston Naming Test (BNT) has multiple short forms that do not include the noose item that have been primarily examined in dementia populations. This study compared BNT short forms with standard administration (BNT-S) in physical medicine and rehabilitation patients who underwent outpatient evaluation. The sample (N = 480) was 34% female and 91% white with average age of 46 years (SD = 15) and average education of 14 years (SD = 3). Five 15-item short forms were calculated: Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s disease (CERAD-15); Lansing; and Mack 1, 2, and 4 (Mack-15.1, −15.2). Three 30-item short forms were calculated: Mack A, Saxon A, and BNT odd items. BNT-S and short forms were compared with Spearman correlations. Cronbach’s alpha was calculated for all BNT forms. Impaired BNT scores were determined with norm-referenced scores (T < 36 and T < 40). Area under the curve (AUC) values were compared across short forms with impaired BNT as criterion. BNT-S showed strong correlations with 30-item (rho = 0.92–0.93) and 15-item short forms (rho = 0.80–0.87) except for CERAD-15 (rho = 0.69). Internal consistency was acceptable for all short forms (alpha = 0.72–0.86). BNT-S was impaired in 17% and 33% of participants at 35 T and 39 T cutoffs, respectively. BNT short forms showed excellent to outstanding classification accuracy predicting impairment using both cutoffs. BNT short forms warrant further study in rehabilitation settings.