Inter-rater agreement of the Turkish version of the Neurobehavioral Rating Scale-Revised form.

OBJECTIVES

This study aims to adapt the Neurobehavioral Rating Scale-revised form (NBRS-R) for Turkish traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients and to investigate the inter-rater agreement of the Turkish revised scale.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A total of 45 patients (36 males, 9 females; mean age 31.1±13.0 years; range 18 to 60 years) with TBI were included in this study between September 2013 and August 2014. A semi-structured interview was set up for Turkish patients using a multidisciplinary approach (physiatrist, psychiatrist, neurologist and psychologist) with the participation of four rehabilitation centers. Questions were prepared for each of the 29 items, based on the recommendations of the original NBRS-R form. Four different interviewers from the four centers applied this form to a total of 45 TBI patients.

RESULTS

The items evaluated by intra-class correlation coefficient showed satisfactory stability and the reliability of the items ranged from moderate to very good.

CONCLUSION

The NBRS-R form can be suggested to provide a reliable and easily reproducible evaluation method of neurobehavioral deficits in TBI patients who speak Turkish.