The DiaNAH test battery for visual perceptual disorders: Validity and efficacy in rehabilitation practice

We developed the DiaNAH test battery for the screening of mid-level and higher-order visual perceptual disorders in clinical practice. The DiaNAH battery comprises 11 different tests and can be administered in 30-60 minutes. Important feature of the DiaNAH battery is that it is administered on a 24” tablet, connected to a laptop. This allows dual screen technology, enabling the assessor to follow the patient’s activities on the tablet. The tablet can be used with a wireless, battery-free electronic pen, which imitates paper and pencil administration. The software (DiagnosIS, developed by Metrisquare; www.diagnoseis.com) processes performance online and generates a clinical report (including comparison battery is implemented in 19 rehabilitation centers of Royal Dutch Visio and Bartiméus in the Netherlands. So far, we performed a validation study, a normative study and a simulation (malingering) study, including healthy controls (n=600) and patients with visual problems after neurological disease (n=600). Anonymized data of the scientific reports are linked to independent variables such as age, sex, visual field deficits and type of neurological disease. Evidence suggests that the DiaNAH test battery is of added value for the assessment of visual perceptual disorders in clinical practice. It gives quick insight into the likelihood that a patient has perceptual disorders. It provides information about the possible nature and
severity or the perceptual problem (e.g. mid-level, spatial, object-based) and may give direction to additional perceptual and neuropsychological assessment.