Utility of the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status in Focal Epilepsy Patients in an Arab Cohort

The RBANS (Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status) is a widely used screening battery in patients with cerebral dysfunction. However, there is little published research in patients who have epilepsy. We present its utility in patients in an Arab cohort, who have focal epilepsy. In this observational study, we selected patients with focal epilepsy who were referred from Epilepsy clinic for neuropsychological evaluation in a tertiary care hospital, in Al Ain, UAE. The RBANS was administered to patients and their standard scores were calculated for each of the five Indexes of the battery (Immediate Memory, Visuospatial/Constructional, Language, Attention and Delayed Memory) and compared to matched healthy controls. Anti-Epilepticdrugs (AED) usage was accounted for and type and number of drugs were noted. Epilepsy patients showed impairments across RBANS Index and Total scores compared to healthy controls. We conclude that RBANS is a quick and convenient tool for detecting cognitive impairment in a cohort of Arab patients with focal epilepsy and can be used to identify impaired cognitive domains for further selective neuropsychological evaluation. The utility of the RBANS in a larger cohort of epileptic patients should be further investigated.