Comparing Diagnostic Accuracy of Cognitive Screening.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Implementing a study to Compare Diagnostic Accuracy of Cognitive Screening Instruments: A Weighted Comparison Approach in Acquired Brain Injury (ABI)
IRAS ID
307533
Contact name
Henk Swanepoel
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Brunel House Hospital
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
NA, NA
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 3 months, 1 days
Research summary
AIM:
Investigating instruments incorporating both cognitive and functional scales in Acquired Brain Injury (brain damage caused by events after birth).
Background:
Commonly used cognitive screening instruments (CSIs) do not specifically examine functional impairments. It is recognised that the degree of ABI as indicated by cognitive scales may not correlate with functional scales, indicating a need for functional as well as cognitive testing. The recognised shortcomings of CSIs might possibly be improved by including assessment of function. The CSIs included are the Free-Cog and Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination - III (ACE-III). The Free-Cog scale incorporates assessment of cognition and function in a single instrument by combining questions addressing “cognitive function” and “executive function.” The ACE-III is an established CSI that is used to identify cognitive impairment in the evaluation of 5 cognitive domains, namely: Attention, Memory, Fluency, Language and Visuospatial abilities.
Method
This is a blinded cross over prospective study of 20 ABI patients at Cygnet Brunel Neuropsychiatric Hospital in Bristol. The data will be analysed using a Weighted Comparison (WC) measure, to provide the difference in sensitivity and specificity of the two CSIs.
Discussion
Challenges encountered were patient demographics, organizational and geographic, which highlights problems in investigating new free, reliable and accurate bedside CSIs in the ABI population that can be used in different health settings by various professionals. Effective collaboration between neuropsychiatry and neuropsychology allowed for coherent research methodology and implementation. This experience indicates the need for strong collaboration between the various disciplines to identify a appropriate patient groups and overcome institutional challenges in a non-research setting.REC name
Social Care REC
REC reference
23/IEC08/0005
Date of REC Opinion
9 Oct 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion