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Introducing Multiple Screener: An unsupervised digital screening tool for cognitive deficits in MS
L van Dongen1, B Westerik1, K van der Hiele2
1Department of Anatomy & Neurosciences, Amsterdam Neuroscience, MS Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders
|November 25, 2019
Summary
A new digital tool, Multiple Screener, accurately screens for cognitive deficits in Multiple Sclerosis (MS). This unsupervised tool offers a time-efficient method for monitoring cognitive decline in MS patients.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Digital Health
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Cognitive deficits impact up to 70% of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients, significantly affecting quality of life.
- Current cognitive assessments are time-consuming and require a neuropsychologist, hindering timely diagnosis and monitoring of MS-related cognitive decline.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a time-efficient, unsupervised, digital tool for screening cognitive deficits in Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
Main Methods:
- Developed a digital version of the Brief International Cognitive Assessment for MS (BICAMS), including the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT-II), and Spatial Recall Test (SPART).
- Validated the tool's clarity and feasibility with MS patients.
- Assessed the digital version's correlation with paper-and-pencil tests in healthy controls (HCs) using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs).
- Collected data from 236 HCs to establish norm scores, applying corrections for age, education, and sex as needed.
Main Results:
- Excellent to good ICCs were found between the digital and paper-and-pencil versions of the tests (SDMT: 0.79, CVLT-II: 0.77, SPART: 0.61).
- Norm scores were generated with regression-based corrections for age, and further corrections for education and sex were applied to specific tests.
- The digital tool demonstrated high correlation with traditional assessment methods in healthy individuals.
Conclusions:
- The adjusted digital version of BICAMS, Multiple Screener, shows high correlation with standard paper-and-pencil assessments.
- Multiple Screener is an unsupervised, digital tool with available norm scores, facilitating easier monitoring of cognitive decline in MS patients.
