Reliability and construct validity of the bells test

Abstract

The Bells Test (BT) is widely used to aid in the diagnosis of heminegligence. The objective of this study was to evaluate the convergent validity of the BT, comparing it with tools that evaluate similar constructs, and to investigate its test-retest reliability. The sample included 66 healthy adults age 19-75 years. The reliability was evaluated through a test-retest procedure, with correlations and t-tests for paired samples, while validity was investigated through comparisons between the performance on the BT and scores in the Concentrated Attention test (CA-15), the Sustained Attention test (SA), and the WAIS-III Symbols and Codes subtests. Positive correlations were found between test and retest in both BT versions, as well as between the number of BT omissions and other attention measures. These results corroborate the validity and reliability of the two BT versions in the Brazilian population.

Keywords

• attention
• neuropsychological assessment
• reliability
• validity