Spanish translation and adaptation of the repeatable battery for the assessment of neuropsychological status (RBANS) Form A in a pilot sample.

INTRODUCTION RBANS is a short neuropsychological battery which has shown to be sensitive in detecting cognitive impairment in degenerative and non-degenerative diseases. It has been translated and adapted to different languages and is widely used in other countries, but no Spanish version has been published. The objective was to make a valid translation of the RBANS to Spanish, and obtain a version adapted to the Spanish population. PATIENTS AND METHODS The study included 73 subjects: 25 males with a mean age of 54 years and 9.72 years of education, and 48 females with a mean age of 53 years and 10.29 years of education. The battery was translated using the translation-back-translation method (with slight differences), followed by a descriptive pilot study in a sample of the normal population. RESULTS An overall reliability coefficient with a Cronbach alpha of 0.73 was obtained in the translation and adaptation of the RBANS, Form A (1998). Statistically significant positive correlations between the indices were obtained. CONCLUSIONS The version translated and adapted to Spanish performs similarly to the original version.