Both the OCS and OCS-Plus screening tools were developed at the University of Oxford, under the lead of Professor Demeyere, following rigorous neuropsychological and psychometric approaches. The core aim in making these tools available is to improve cognitive screening practices to detect cognitive changes, with a particular focus on vascular cognitive impairments. The screening tools were designed to be inclusive for patients with aphasia, hemiplegia and neglect and reduce any confounds that may occur because of these often co-occurring difficulties.
Several cultural and language adaptations of the Oxford Cognitive Screen are available, with many others ongoing. The endorsed translations adhere to a high standard following strict protocols for translation, and each version has been normed and validated for the targeted population and published in a peer-reviewed publication before making it available.
The screening tools are freely available for publicly funded clinical and research use.
OCS
The Oxford Cognitive Screen (OCS) is a first-line, stroke-specific and domain-specific cognitive screening tool which can be delivered at the bedside in acute stroke. The OCS is easy to administer and score and importantly is inclusive for patients with aphasia and neglect. The OCS domains assessed are Language, Praxis, Number, Memory, Spatial and Controlled Attention. The paper-and-pen based OCS was published in 2015, and has been demonstrated to be a sensitive and inclusive cognitive screen for stroke (see publications)
OCS-Plus
The OCS-Plus is a computerised tablet- based tool developed to detect more subtle cognitive changes which may otherwise go undetected. The OCS-Plus primarily focusses on briefly assessing domain general performance in Memory and Executive Function. The OCS-plus has been validated and normed in a healthy ageing sample and is undergoing further research for validity of use in specific clinical groups.
Cognitive Profiling
Both OCS and OCS-Plus return a visual snapshot of a patient’s cognitive profile, in a ‘wheel of cognition’, which at a glance demonstrates the specific cognitive domain impairments as well as spared domains of cognition, thereby highlighting both strengths and weaknesses.
