ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: A neuropsychological test battery for 5 to 16 year old children has recently been developed. This battery is called Neuropsychological Assessment of Children (Evaluacion Neuropsicológica Infantil, ENI) and it includes the following sections: attention, constructional skills, memory encoding, perceptual skills, memory recall, language, metalinguistic skills, reading, writing, arithmetic, spatial skills, conceptual skills and executive functions. AIMS: Our aim was to obtain norms for the ENI in a Colombian population between 5 and 16 years of age. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We selected 252 children (92 boys and 160 girls) in the city of Manizales (Colombia), and they were administered the ENI. In order to obtain an external validity, 21 of the participants were also given the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Revised (WISC R). RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were found on most of the subtests across age groups. Differences between boys and girls appeared more specifically in tests of visuoperceptual, visual constructional, spatial and numerical skills. Some of the ENI subtests correlated with the WISC R subtests. CONCLUSIONS: It is suggested that the ENI could satisfy the existing need in the Spanish speaking world for neuropsychological tools with which to assess children and adolescents.
Subject(s)
Neuropsychological Tests , Psychology, Adolescent , Psychology, Child , Adolescent , Child , Child, Preschool , Colombia , Culture , Female , Humans , Intelligence Tests , Male , Neuropsychological Tests/standards , Reference Values , Sex Characteristics , Urban PopulationABSTRACT
Introducción. Recientemente se desarrolló una batería neuropsicológica para niños con edades entre los 5 y los 16 años. Esta batería se denominó Evaluación Neuropsicológica Infantil (ENI), y comprende las siguientes secciones: atención, habilidades constructivas, memoria de codificación, habilidades perceptuales, memoria de evocación, lenguaje, habilidades metalingüísticas, lectura, escritura, aritmética, habilidades espaciales, habilidades conceptuales y funciones ejecutivas. Objetivo. Obtener las normas de la ENI para una población de niños colombianos entre los 5 y los 16 años. Sujetos y métodos. Se seleccionaron 252 niños (92 niños y 160 niñas) en la ciudad de Manizales (Colombia), y se les administró la ENI. Para obtener un índice de validez externa, a 21 de los participantes también se les aplicó la escala de inteligencia Wechsler para niños-revisada (WISC-R). Resultados. Se encontraron diferencias significativas en la mayoría de las subpruebas al comparar los diferentes intervalos de edad. Las diferencias entre niños y niñas aparecieron más específicamente en pruebas de habilidades visuoperceptuales, visuoconstructivas, espaciales y numéricas. Algunas subpruebas de la ENI se correlacionaron con las subpruebas del WISC-R. Conclusión. Se sugiere que la batería ENI podría llenar la necesidad existente en el mundo hispanohablante de disponer de instrumentos neuropsicológicos para la evaluación de niños y adolescentes (AU)
Introduction. A neuropsychological test battery for 5 to 16-year-old children has recently been developed. This battery is called Neuropsychological Assessment of Children (Evaluacion Neuropsicológica Infantil, ENI) and it includes the following sections: attention, constructional skills, memory encoding, perceptual skills, memory recall, language, metalinguistic skills, reading, writing, arithmetic, spatial skills, conceptual skills and executive functions. Aims. Our aim was to obtain norms for the ENI in a Colombian population between 5 and 16 years of age. Subjects and methods. We selected 252 children (92 boys and 160 girls) in the city of Manizales (Colombia), and they were administered the ENI. In order to obtain an external validity, 21 of the participants were also given the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R). Results. Statistically significant differences were found on most of the subtests across age groups. Differences between boys and girls appeared more specifically in tests of visuoperceptual, visual constructional, spatial and numerical skills. Some of the ENI subtests correlated with the WISC-R subtests. Conclusions. It is suggested that the ENI could satisfy the existing need in the Spanish-speaking world for neuropsychological tools with which to assess children and adolescents (AU)
