LAUSR

The purpose of the present study was to compare Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV (WAIS-IV) Reliable Digit Span (RDS) and Digit Span Age-Corrected Scaled Score (DS-ACSS) sensitivity and specificity, when the effort criterion was determined by between one and five performance validity test (PVT) cut scores. Data were collected from 82 adults (18–49) referred for clinical questions of multiple sclerosis, mild traumatic brain injury, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Patients were administered full neuropsychological batteries,with different combinations of PVTs (including Advanced Clinical Solutions Word Choice, Animals raw score, Trails A T-score, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test [WCST; Suhr & Boyer] equation, and California Verbal Learning Test-II Forced Choice). Chi-square and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were utilized. Using established RDS (≤7) and DS-ACSS (≤6) cut scores, specificity was highest (90&37; and 86%, respectively), with equivalent sensitivity (90%), when effort was determined by WCST (Suhr & Boyer) equation failure alone. Related area under the curve for RDS was .90 (CI = .76–1.0) and for DS-ACSS was .88 (CI = .74–1.0). In this clinical sample, the highest sensitivity and specificity were observed when the RDS cut score was utilized, and effort was based on the WCST criterion. However, the DS-ACSS cut score resulted in strong sensitivity/specificity combinations across more effort classification groups.