Validation of a brief screening tool for alcohol-related neuropsychological impairments (BEARNI)

International audienceBackground: Alcohol-related neuropsychological impairments mainly affect episodic memory, working memory and visuospatial abilities, as well as executive and motor functioning. These impairments can prevent alcoholic patients early in abstinence from benefiting fully from treatment, and reduce their ability to remain abstinent. A neuropsychological assessment at alcohol treatment entry therefore seems essential for making the relevant clinical decisions. However, very few alcohol treatment departments have the financial and human resources needed to conduct an extensive neuropsychological examination of each alcoholic patient. The goal of the present study was therefore to assess the validity and the psychometric properties of the Brief Evaluation of Alcohol-Related Neuropsychological Impairments (BEARNI), a new screening tool especially designed to assess patients at alcohol treatment entry. Methods: A total of 254 healthy controls completed the BEARNI, and 58 of them also performed an extensive neuropsychological battery. 73 alcoholic patients underwent both the BEARNI and the neuropsychological battery. This extensive neuropsychological battery of proven classification accuracy served as the reference (i.e., gold standard) for determining the alcoholic patients' cognitive status. Results: An exploratory factor analysis validated the BEARNI's underlyin