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Validation of the screening instrument for neuropsychological impairment in stroke
Author(s) -
Sodring Karen Margrethe,
Laake Knut,
Sveen Unni,
Wyller Torgeir Bruun,
BautzHolter Erik
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
physiotherapy research international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.509
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1471-2865
pISSN - 1358-2267
DOI - 10.1002/pri.119
Subject(s) - neuropsychology , stroke (engine) , neuropsychological assessment , apraxia , receiver operating characteristic , aphasia , psychology , cognition , physical medicine and rehabilitation , physical therapy , audiology , medicine , psychiatry , mechanical engineering , engineering
Abstract Background and Purpose Full neuropsychological assessment is time‐consuming and exhausting for the patient in the early phase of stroke. The screening instrument for neuropsychological impairment in stroke (SINS) is a brief, bedside‐applicable instrument designed to screen perceptual and cognitive dysfunction related to functional activities in stroke. It has been developed by physiotherapists to be incorporated in the general assessment of the patient. This study evaluates the validity of the method against a more extensive reference method assessing cognitive function. Methods and Results An unselected group of hospitalized stroke patients (N=87) was assessed 10 days and 12 months after stroke. Factor analyses (52% explained variance), identified three factors: ‘aphasia’, ‘apraxia’ and ‘visuocognitive dysfunction’. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves demonstrated that for all factors, high specificity was maintained at the high sensitivity needed for a screening method. Kendall rank correlation coefficients between the scorings on the new instrument and the reference method were high. Effect size analysis showed that the ability of the new instrument to detect change in cognitive functioning during the first year was of the same magnitude as the reference method. Conclusions SINS has a high sensitivity regarding cognitive dysfunction, as diagnosed by the more comprehensive and time‐consuming reference method. The instrument would be useful as an initial step in the assessment of neuropsychological impairment in stroke patients. Copyright © 1998 Whurr Publishers Ltd.