Oxford Cognitive Screen (OCS) foi desenhado para avaliar défices cognitivos após acidente vascular cerebral (AVC), especialmente na fase aguda. Este teste de rastreio cognitivo é composto por 10 tarefas e permite avaliar 5 domínios cognitivos: Linguagem, Processamento do Número, Memória, Atenção (espacial e executiva), e Praxis. Para além do mais, OCS é um instrumento muito inclusivo, permitindo avaliar pacientes com dificuldades na fala, neglect e hemiparesia dos membros superiores. O OCS pode ser admnistrado à cabeceira da cama do doente, e é rápido e fácil de admnistrar e cotar. No nosso estudo, adaptámos o Oxford Cognitive Screening a falantes de Português Europeu, desenvolvemos pontos de corte normativos, e reportámos algumas características psicométricas do testes. Depois, testámos a incidência destes défices em pacientes com AVC agudo (na primeira semana após o episódio de AVC) e mostrámos que este é um teste inclusivo e que permite distinguir entre funções preservadas e danificadas. Acreditamos que o OCS-Pt é um ferramenta de rastreio cognitivo promissora para avaliar sobrevives de AVC no estado agudo e que pode ser usado nos cuidados destes doentes em Portugal.

 

The Oxford Cognitive Screen (OCS) was designed to assess cognitive disorders after stroke, especially in the acute stage. This cognitive screening test comprises 10 tasks and allows for the assessment of five cognitive domains: Language, Number processing, Memory, Attention (spatial and executive), and Praxis. Additionally, OCS is a very inclusive instrument, allowing for the assessment of patients with spoken output difficulties, neglect, and upper limb hemiparesis. The OCS can be delivered at the bedside, it is fast and easy to administer and score. In our study, we adapted the Oxford Cognitive Screening to European Portuguese speakers (OCS-Pt), we developed normative data cut-offs, and we reported  psychometric properties of the instrument. Then, we tested the incidence of impairments in acute stroke patients, in the first week after the stroke episode, and we showed this is an inclusive test and allows to discriminate between impaired and preserved functions. We believe that OCS-Pt is a promising cognitive screening tool to assess acute stroke survivors to be used in stroke care in Portugal.

 

 

Team

Daniela Valério and Jorge Almeida, the leaders of OCS-Pt team, are part of the ProAction Lab (https://proactionlab.fpce.uc.pt/), a laboratory whose research interests relate to cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychology and the study of patients with apraxia and other object-related motor impairments, as well as high- and low-level visual deficits.

The OCS-Pt Group:

  • Daniela Valério, Proaction Laboratory, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal, and Center for Research in Neuropsychology and Cognitive Behavioural Intervention (CINEICC), Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
  • Jorge Almeida, Proaction Laboratory, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal, and Center for Research in Neuropsychology and Cognitive Behavioural Intervention (CINEICC), Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
  • Nele Demeyere, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
  • Joana Nogueira, Center for Research in Neuropsychology and Cognitive Behavioural Intervention (CINEICC), Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
  • Marisa Lima, Center for Research in Neuropsychology and Cognitive Behavioural Intervention (CINEICC), Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal; Centro Hospitalar E Universitário de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal, and Center for Innovative Biomedicine and Biotechnology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
  • Isabel Santana, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal; Centro Hospitalar E Universitário de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal, and
    Center for Innovative Biomedicine and Biotechnology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.

 

 

Materials

OCS-Pt, and user manual will be available free of charge via the Oxford University Innovations Health Outcomes license website.

 

Publication:

Valério, D., Almeida, J., Demeyere, N., Lima, M., Nogueira, J., & Santana, I. (2022). The European Portuguese version of the Oxford Cognitive Screening (OCS-Pt): a screening test for acute stroke patients. Neurological Sciences, 1-12.