Abstract

Introduction: Using neuropsychological tests in differential diagnosis of disorders caused by brain damage and brain functions of normal subjects has always been attractive for experts of this field of science. The aim of this was to study the ability of the Bender-Gestalt Test in differential diagnosis of patients with brain damage and normal subjects in Iranian population. Methods and Materials: The research statistical population included all accidental and cerebral vascular accident patients who were referred to Shahid Rajai and Namazi Hospitals in Shiraz. The sample group of this study consisted of 12 patients with brain trauma and cerebral vascular accident patients, and 12 normal subjects who were selected by purposive sampling method. The groups of brain trauma and cerebral vascular accident and the normal subjects were matched for age and education. The patients with brain trauma and cerebral vascular accident were diagnosed by CT-Scan and then Bender-Gestalt Test was applied on them. At the end, the results were analyzed by independent t-test. Findings: There was a significant difference in the results of the Bender-Gestalt Test between the two groups of brain damaged patients and the normal subjects. Also, the most substantial type of errors between these two groups was preservation. After that, the highest degree of distinction between two groups was angulation difficulty and confused sequence of shapes, respectively. Conclusion: Based on this study, it can be concluded that the Bender-Gestalt Test can be used as a differential diagnosis test of brain lesions in order to prevent the unnecessary tomography of brain in Iranian population.