Cognitive screening with the Neurobehavioral Cognitive Status Examination in a chronic liver disease population

The Neurobehavioral Cognitive Status Examination (NCSE) was developed as a brief neuropsychological screening instrument. To date there has been minimal research investigating the usefulness of the NCSE. The purpose of this study is to analyze the factor structure of the NCSE and investigate the relationship between the NCSE and the Trail Making Test as a criterion measure of cognitive dysfunction in patients with chronic liver disease. Exploratory factor analysis suggests that an attention-based, general cognitive functioning factor is present. Correlational and regression analyses suggest that the Memory and Construction subtests are most strongly related to cognitive dysfunction secondary to hepatic encephalopathy. Finally, preliminary norms for the NCSE are presented utilizing this population. Results suggest that the NCSE is relatively free of age and education effects, is an adequate screen for general cognitive dysfunction, and is a viable alternative to other cognitive screening instruments for this population.