Evaluation of a self-administered iPad®-based processing speed assessment for people with multiple sclerosis in a clinical routine setting

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Stefanie Hechenberger - , Medical University of Graz (Author)
  • Birgit Helmlinger - , Medical University of Graz (Author)
  • Christian Tinauer - , Medical University of Graz (Author)
  • Emanuel Jauk - , Chair of Clinical Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience, Medical University of Graz, TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • Stefan Ropele - , Medical University of Graz (Author)
  • Bettina Heschl - , Medical University of Graz (Author)
  • Sebastian Wurth - , Medical University of Graz (Author)
  • Anna Damulina - , Medical University of Graz (Author)
  • Sebastian Eppinger - , Medical University of Graz (Author)
  • Rina Demjaha - , Medical University of Graz (Author)
  • Michael Khalil - , Medical University of Graz (Author)
  • Christian Enzinger - , Medical University of Graz (Author)
  • Daniela Pinter - , Medical University of Graz (Author)

Abstract

Background: Limited resources often hinder regular cognitive assessment of people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) in standard clinical care. A self-administered iPad®-based cognitive screening-tool (Processing Speed Test; PST) might mitigate this problem. Objective: To evaluate the PST in clinical routine. Methods: We investigated the feasibility of the PST in both a quiet and a waiting room setting. We assessed the validity of the PST in comparison with the established Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT). We explored associations between processing speed assessments and the Brief International Cognitive Assessment for MS (BICAMS), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) parameters, and psychological factors. Additionally, we explored the ability of the PST to detect impairment in processing speed compared to the SDMT. Results: The PST was feasible in the waiting room setting. PST and SDMT correlated comparably with the BICAMS, MRI parameters, and psychological variables. Of 172 pwMS, 50 (30.8%) showed cognitive impairment according to the BICAMS; respective values were 47 (27.3%) for the SDMT and 9 (5.2%) for the PST. Conclusions: The PST performed in a waiting room setting correlates strongly with established cognitive tests. It thus may be used to assess processing speed in a resource-efficient manner and complement cognitive assessment in clinical routine. Despite comparable validity of the PST and SDMT, we identified more pwMS with impaired processing speed using normative data of the SDMT compared to the PST and advise caution, that the common cut-off score of – 1.5 SD from the current PST is not appropriate in Europe.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3268-3278
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of neurology
Volume271
Issue number6
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2024
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 38441609

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • Cognition, Cognitive assessment, iPad-based test, MRI, Multiple sclerosis, Processing speed