Reliability of a Cognitive Test Battery for Individuals with a Spinal Cord Injury

Individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) have a higher incidence of cognitive deficits than the able-bodied (AB) population.In literature, there is only little reference about the reliability of cognitive test batteries in individuals with SCI.Therefore, the present study investigated the reliability of a test battery consisting of the Stroop Color and Word Test (SCWT) and four subtests of the Test of Attentional Performance (TAP) in individuals with SCI.Thirteen volunteers with a traumatic SCI participated in this study.After a familiarization trial, each participant was tested twice on two different days, separated by seven days.The within and between-day intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), the limits of agreement (LOA), the standard error of measurement (SEM) and the smallest real differences (SRD) were calculated for SCWT and TAP data over the four sessions.SCWT presented excellent within-day (ICC: 0.92 / 0.98) and between-day (ICC: 0.92 / 0.97) reliability.In the TAP, mean overall reaction time showed excellent within-day reliability (ICC: 0.93 / 0.93) and good to excellent between-day reliability (ICC: 0.82 / 0.90).Therefore, the test battery showed encouraging results within the population of individuals with SCI.Even though the ICC results look promising, the test battery should be assessed with a higher number of participants to reduce LOA, SEM and SRD.