Preliminary validity of computerized neurobehavioral assessment among university students

Abstract

Neurobehavioral disorders is a disease of neurological damage. It affects human due to exposure of chemicals from the environment that damage the nervous system. In the early 90’s, the World Health Organization (WHO) had introduced a Neurobehavioral Core Test Battery (NCTB) to detect human nervous system damage by using pen and paper method. A group of researchers at UTHM have taken the initiatives to convert the conventional WHO-NCTB pen and paper method into a new computerized neurobehavioral assessment tool called Neurobehavioral Risk Assessment and Evaluation System (NeuRAES 1.0). The purpose of this study is to test the preliminary validity of this newly developed assessment tool. This study was conducted among 40 respondents from a group of university students and 15 respondents from industry. There were three types of tests carried out on this assessment, such as Benton Visual Retention Test (BVRT), Trail Making Test (TMT) and Pursuit Aiming Test (PAT). All these tests were carried out by using both methods which are the conventional WHO-NCTB pen and paper method, and the computerized NeuRAES 1.0 method. Both of these test methods were conducted among the respondents and their results were recorded and analysed statistically. Results of the study shows that TMT section A produced strongest correlation between both conventional WHO-NCTB pen and paper method, and computerized NeuRAES 1.0 method for both students and industrial workers. However, PAT produced strongest correlation among industrial workers respondents only. Several factors had been identified for improvement of this study such as increase the sample size among students and industrial workers, usage of touch screen laptop for PAT and the need to decrease the scoring bias factor.