TACOMA, Wash. -- All Joint Base Lewis-McChord service members, civilians and contractors deploying to Iraq or Afghanistan are mandated to take a 20-minute neurocognitive assessment test through the Department of Defense Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics center located near Madigan Healthcare System.
ANAM is a proven computer-based tool designed to detect speed and accuracy of attention, memory, and thinking ability. It can be used as a baseline for the service member in case they are involved in a concussive event, typically resulting in a mild Traumatic Brain Injury.
The results may help health care staff compare a service member's neurocognitive skills before and after an injury, and determine when a service member is ready to return to duty, said Felix Rios, a psychometrist and program manager with ANAM.
The assessment tool does not diagnose any medical condition.
ANAM assessment results are considered protected health information and placed in a patient's electronic medical record. The test results are encrypted at the Office of the Army Surgeon General in a stand-alone database, and the only person who can see that information would be a doctor treating a service member who has suffered an mTBI.
The baseline tests and post-concussive tests are compared and provide the doctor better information about the person's situation, Rios said. "The best way to know how you are functioning after an injury is to know how you functioned before the injury," he added.
To date, more than 600,000 baseline tests have been given throughout the Army. Lewis-McChord's testing site is the busiest in the Department of Defense, Rios said. "We are here for the community, and want to be as helpful as possible."
For more information, call ANAM at 253-968-4805. Assessment times are at 8:30 a.m., 9 a.m., 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.
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