Self-administration and Reliability of Computerized Neurobehavioral Tests among Egyptian Pesticide Workers | ||||
| Journal of High Institute of Public Health | ||||
| Article 7, Volume 37, Issue 2, April 2007, Page 372-384 PDF (327.39 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/jhiph.2007.22525 | ||||
 View on SCiNiTO | ||||
| Author | ||||
| Fayssal M. Farahat* | ||||
| Department of Community Medicine and Environmental Health, Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Background: Behavioral Assessment and Research System (BARS) is a computer-based test system designed to assess neurobehavioral function and neurotoxicity in humans. This system is available in 5 languages including Arabic. Objectives: To assess the potential use of the Arabic version of computerized neurobehavioral system (BARS) and to compare performance of Egyptian pesticide workers to non-exposed populations using the same computerized battery. Methods: This study involved the administration of eight neurobehavioral tests from the Arabic computerized neurobehavioral test battery (BARS) to Egyptian workers occupationally exposed to pesticides (n= 25) as compared to non-exposed Egyptian workers (n= 25). One-week test-retest reliability of the computerized battery was measured among non-exposed participants. Results: Performance of pesticide non-exposed Egyptian workers did not show any significant differences between test and re-test (i.e. after one week). Performance of pesticide exposed workers was significantly lower in most of the administered computerized tests as compared to non-exposed Egyptian and US populations. Conclusions: The current findings demonstrate the potential utility of the Arabic computerized BARS in occupational epidemiological research especially in the short-term intervals. Stability of the administered Arabic BARS tests over the short-term interval makes it broadly applicable in assessing exposures at different workplaces and with different cultural and educational levels. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Arabic; Neurobehavioral; Computerized Battery | ||||
|
Statistics Article View: 136 PDF Download: 325 |
||||
