5 results
35 Preliminary reliability of the Coma Recovery Scale, Revised (CRS-R) in children with a history of disorders of consciousness after acquired brain injury
- Natasha N Ludwig, Stacy Suskauer, Beth Slomine
-
- Journal:
- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society / Volume 29 / Issue s1 / November 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 December 2023, p. 143
-
- Article
-
- You have access Access
- Export citation
-
Objective:
The Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) is the gold standard assessment of adults with disorders of consciousness (DoC); however few studies have examined the psychometric properties of the CRS-R in pediatric populations. This study aimed to demonstrate preliminary intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of the CRS-R in children with acquired brain injury (ABI).
Participants and Methods:Participants included 3 individuals (ages 10, 15, and 17 years) previously admitted to an inpatient pediatric neurorehabilitation unit with DoC after ABI who were followed in an outpatient brain injury clinic due to ongoing severe disability. ABI etiology included traumatic brain injury (TBI; n=2) and encephalitis (n=1). Study participation took place on average 4.6 years after injury (range 2-9). The Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended, Pediatric Version (GOS-E Peds), a measure of outcome after pediatric brain injury, was administered as part of screening. Two participants were placed in the GOS-E Peds “lower severe disability” category (i.e., score of 6) and one was placed in the “upper severe disability” category (i.e., score of 5). The CRS-R includes 6 subscales measuring responsivity including Auditory (range 0-4), Visual (range 05), Motor (range 0-6), Oromotor/Verbal (range 03), Communication (range 0-2), and Arousal (range 0-3) with higher scores indicating higherlevel function. Subscales are totaled for a CRS-R Total score. Behaviors shown during the CRS-R are used to determine state of DoC [Vegetative State (VS), Minimally Conscious State (MCS) or emergence from a minimally conscious state (eMCS)] based on 2002 Aspen Guidelines. Participants were administered the CRS-R three consecutive times on the same day. Administrations were completed by two raters in this order: Rater 1 (1A), Rater 1 (1B) and Rater 2. Intra-rater reliability was deemed by percent agreement across the 6 subscales between Rater 1A and 1B. Inter-rater reliability was deemed by percent agreement across the 6 subscales between 1A and 2.
Results:Mean CRS-R Total score for Rater 1A was 22 (SD=1.73, range 20-23), Rater 1B was 22 (SD=1.73, range 20-23), and Rater 2 was 21.33 (SD=2.08, range 19-23). Intra-rater reliability was 100% and inter-rater reliability was 94% across all subscales. All participants were deemed eMCS at all 3 ratings.
Conclusions:Data from this very small sample of children suggests that the CRS-R demonstrates both intra-rater and inter-rater reliability in patients with a history of DoC after ABI. Given that all children were at the high end of the scale (eMCS), further research is needed with a larger sample of children with a range of states of DoC.
74 Timed Motor Performance in Children Medically Cleared for Return to Activities Post Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
- Tyler A Busch, Adrian M Svingos, Hsuan-Wei Chen, Kayla Huntington, Nishta Amin, Beth S Slomine, Stacy J Suskauer
-
- Journal:
- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society / Volume 29 / Issue s1 / November 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 December 2023, pp. 177-178
-
- Article
-
- You have access Access
- Export citation
-
Objective:
Children who sustain a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) are at increased odds of additive injury and continue to show altered motor performance relative to never-injured peers after being medically cleared (MC) to return to normal activities. There is a critical need to determine when children can return to activities without risk of short and long-term adverse effects, with research showing high reinjury rates for 3-12 months after RTP. The Physical and Neurological Examination for Subtle Signs (PANESS) measures subtle signs of motor impairment during gait, balance, and timed motor functions. Recent literature has demonstrated that PANESS timed motor function can distinguish between children medically cleared post-mTBI compared to never-injured controls. The present study examined performance on timed motor tasks in youth medically cleared from mTBI following medical clearance and 3-months later, compared to never-injured peers.
Participants and Methods:25 children (Mage=14.16, SD=2.46; Male=68%) were enrolled within 6 weeks of medical clearance from mTBI (Mdays post MC=33, SD=13.4, Range=2-59) along with 66 typically developing, never-injured controls (Mage=13.9, SD=2.22; Male=50%). Group differences were evaluated for the Timed Motor section of the PANESS at enrollment and at a 3-month follow-up (Mdays from enrollment to follow-up=95.90, SD=12.69, Range=62-129). This 3-month follow-up occurred on average 4 months after medical clearance (Mdays from MC to follow-up=130.08, SD=17.58, Range=92 - 164). The Timed Motor section includes Repetitive (foot tapping, hand patting, and finger tapping) and Sequential (heel-toe rocking, hand pronate/supinate, finger sequencing) raw time scores, measured in seconds. The Total Timed Motor Speed score is the combination of Repetitive and Sequential Movement and the side-to-side tongue item.
Results:At 3-month follow-up, mTBI participants (M=67.55, SD=8.26, Range=53.66-83.88) performed worse than controls (M=63.09, SD=10.23, Range=39.86-100.51) on Total Timed Motor Speed, t(89)= 1.95, p<0.05), including when controlling for age and sex, F(1, 87)=4.67, p<0.05. At the same time point, mTBI participants (M=36.54, SD=5.47, Range=28.74-49.17) performed worse on Sequential Speed than controls (M=32.93, SD=6.1, Range=21.49-56.76), t(89)=2.59, p<0.01, including when controlling for age and sex, F(1, 87)=7.687, p<0.01). Although groups performed similarly on Sequential Speed at the initial time point, mTBI participants exhibited a trend of less improvement from initial to follow-up (MmTBI=-1.69, Mcontrol=-3.68, t(90)=1.445, p=0.076).
Conclusions:Although groups did not significantly differ on Timed Motor Speed items at the initial time point, the mTBI group showed consistently lower scores than controls at both time points and less improvement over time. Results indicate that Total Timed Motor Speed, specifically Sequential Speed, may be a sensitive marker of persisting differences in high-level motor and cognitive learning/control in children who have been medically cleared after mTBI. More data are needed to evaluate these findings over a longer time period, and future studies should examine behavioral markers concurrently with physiologic brain recovery over time.
94 Equivalence of In-person and Virtual Administration of the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System’s Color-Word Interference Subtest in Youth Recovered from Concussion and Controls
- Nishta R Amin, Tyler A Busch, Kayla B Huntington, Isaac H Chen, Beth S Slomine, Stacy J Suskauer, Adrian M Svingos
-
- Journal:
- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society / Volume 29 / Issue s1 / November 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 December 2023, pp. 496-497
-
- Article
-
- You have access Access
- Export citation
-
Objective:
Virtual testing can reduce cost and burdens, as well as increase access to clinical care. Few studies have examined the equivalency of virtual and in-person administration of standardized measures of executive functioning in children. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we utilized virtual administration of the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System, Color-Word Interference Test (DKEFS-CW) in our ongoing longitudinal research study exploring outcomes in children clinically recovered from concussion compared to never-concussed peers. In the current study, we explore the equivalence of scores obtained via in-person and virtual administration of the DKEFS-CW in youth recovered from concussion and never-concussed controls.
Participants and Methods:Participants included 112 youth ages 10-18 (Mage=14.05 years, SD=2.296; 53.5 % Male) who completed the DKEFS-CW in-person (n=63) or virtually (n=49) as part of their involvement in the parent study. Of these, 38 were recovered from concussion (Mdays since injury— 91.21, SD=88.91), and 74 were never-injured controls. Virtual administration was done via Zoom by presenting digital scans of the DKEFS stimulus book using the screen-sharing function. Participants set up and joined the Zoom call from a secondary device (cell phone) that was set in a stable position to provide a view of their screen, mouse and keyboard setup. Group (in-person vs remote) differences in DKEFS-CW scores were examined using independent-samples t-tests for all subtest conditions (color naming, word reading, inhibition, and inhibition/switching). T-tests/chi-square tests were used to examine between-group differences in demographic variables (i.e., age, sex maternal education, IQ, concussion history). Demographic variables that were significantly different by group were then included as covariates in ANCOVA models examining the effect of administration context on performance.
Results:There were no significant differences in DKEFS-CW scaled scores between those who were administered the measure in-person or virtually (Color Naming: Min-person=10.78, Mvirtual=10.08, t(110)=1.634, p=.105; Word Reading: Min-person=11.25, Mvirtual=10.92, t(110)=.877, p=.382; Inhibition: M in-person= 11.70, Mvirtual=11.24, t(110)=1.182, p=.240; Inhibition/Switching: Mi n-person= 11.29, Mvirtual=10.82, t(110)=1.114, p=.268). There were no significant between-group differences in concussion history, sex, maternal education or IQ. However, those who were administered the DKEFS-CW in-person (Mage=13.55) were significantly younger than those who were administered the measure virtually (Mage=14.69), t(110)=-2.777, p=.006. After controlling for age, there remained no significant relationship between administration context (in-person vs. virtual) and DKEFS-CW performance for any subtest condition (Color Naming: F(1,30)=.016, p=.889; Word Reading: F(1,76)=.655, p=.421; Inhibition: F(1,30)=.038, p=.847; Inhibition/Switching: F(1,30)=.015, p=.902).
Conclusions:The recommended practice for remote administration of DKEFS-CW is to have test stimuli presented flat on a table by a trained facilitator present with the examinees. Here, we provide preliminary evidence of equivalence between DKEFS-CW scores from tests completed in-person and those completed virtually with stimuli presented on a computer screen. Future studies are needed to replicate these findings in clinical populations with greater variability in executive function. Some clinical populations may also require more in-person support. Likewise, future studies may examine the role of trained facilitators or caregivers in the virtual testing process.
71 Feasibility of Virtual Useful Field of View Assessment and Equivalence with In-Person Administration Among Youth Clinically Recovered from Concussion and Uninjured Controls
- Kayla B Huntington, Tyler A Busch, Nishta Amin, Hsuan-Wei Chen, Beth Slomine, Stacy Suskauer, Adrian Svingos
-
- Journal:
- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society / Volume 29 / Issue s1 / November 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 December 2023, pp. 174-175
-
- Article
-
- You have access Access
- Export citation
-
Objective:
Youth athletes with concussion are at an increased risk of sustaining new concussions and orthopedic injuries after clearance for return-to-play. There are training programs, extensively studied in other patient populations, which can improve performance in cognitive domains that have been implicated in sport-related injury and re-injury after concussion (i.e., visual attention/processing speed). The Useful Field of View (UFOV) is one such training program, accompanied by a computerized adaptive assessment for evaluating response to training and maintenance in clinical trials. Remote UFOV assessment administration may help improve adherence, particularly in assessing long-term training effects. The current study explores the feasibility of virtual UFOV assessment and equivalence with in-person administration in youth clinically recovered from concussion and healthy controls.
Participants and Methods:Participants included youth ages 10-18 enrolled in a longitudinal study examining neural recovery following medical clearance from concussion. UFOV was attempted in 61 participants (Mage=15.06; SD=2.00; n=19 in-person; n=42). Of these, 7 virtual administrations were discontinued due to computer limitations, and 1 in-person administration was excluded due to overall performance validity concerns. This resulted in a total sample of 53 participants (Mage=15.02, SD=2.00, 58.5% male; n=14 concussion, Mdays_since_injury=272.64, SD=185.35; n=39 controls). UFOV was administered either in-person (n=18) using manual guidelines or virtually (n=35) on the participant’s computer using video-conference screen-share and a secondary device for an additional view of the participant and their keyboard/mouse. For virtual visits, the examiner recorded concerns about the remote testing environment (e.g., screen glare, viewing distance not measured appropriately), and analyses were conducted with and without cases with concerns. Between-group (in-person vs virtual administration) demographic differences were examined using chi-square tests/t-tests. Mann-Whitney U tests were used to examine for differences in UFOV scores (ms; higher scores are worse) by administration context (in-person vs. virtual) given threats to normality.
Results:For virtual administrations, the most commonly reported concerns about the remote testing environment were related to lighting (n=12) and viewing distance (n=3). There were no significant differences in age, sex, concussion history, sport participation history, or IQ by administration context (in-person vs. virtual). UFOV performance did not vary significantly by administration context for processing speed or divided attention subtests, but performance on the selective attention subtest was significantly better in the virtual administration group (Median in-person =93.33; Medianvirtual=63.33; U=203.00, p=0.035). This trend persisted after removing an outlier (>2SD; p=0.065) and after removing cases where lighting (p=0.060) and screen-viewing distance (p=0.085) were not adequately controlled.
Conclusions:Though preliminary, results suggest that UFOV can be administered virtually, in youth with and without a history of concussion, but that those assessed virtually using their home computer may have an advantage, particularly for the selective attention subtest. This may be due to comfort level within the home environment or subtle differences in viewing distance that were not appreciated by the examiner remotely. Importantly, not all participants were able to complete the assessment virtually due to computer limitations. Future work with larger samples size should examine the extent to which completers vary from non-completers in terms of sociodemographic variables.
7 - Pharmacological Interventions
- from Section 1 - Evidence-based Cognitive Rehabilitation
- Edited by Gianna Locascio, Beth S. Slomine
-
- Book:
- Cognitive Rehabilitation for Pediatric Neurological Disorders
- Published online:
- 25 June 2018
- Print publication:
- 02 August 2018, pp 154-168
-
- Chapter
- Export citation