Validation of the UK English Oxford Cognitive Screen-Plus in Sub-Acute and Chronic Stroke Survivors.

IntroductionStroke survivors are routinely screened for cognitive impairment with tools that often fail to detect subtle impairments. The Oxford Cognitive Screen-Plus (OCS-Plus) is a brief tablet-based screen designed to detect subtle post-stroke cognitive impairments. We examined its psychometric properties in two stroke cohorts (subacute: 6 months post-stroke).Patients and MethodsThis study included 347 stroke survivors (mean age = 73 years; mean education = 13 years; 43.06% female presenting; 74.42% ischaemic stroke). The OCS-Plus was completed by 181 sub-acute stroke survivors and 166 chronic stroke survivors. All participants also completed the Oxford Cognitive Screen (OCS) and a subset completed the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and further neuropsychological tests. ResultsFirst, convergent construct validity of all OCS-Plus tasks against task-matched standardized neuropsychological tests was confirmed. Second, we evaluated divergent construct validity of all OCS-Plus subtasks. Third, we report the sensitivity and specificity of each OCS-Plus subtask compared to neuropsychological test performance. Fourth, we found that OCS-Plus detected cognitive impairments in a large proportion of those classed as unimpaired on MoCA and OCS.Discussion and ConclusionThe OCS-Plus provides a valid screening tool for sensitive detection of subtle cognitive impairment in stroke patients. Indeed, the OCS-Plus detected subtle cognitive impairment at a similar level to validated neuropsychological assessments and exceeded detection of cognitive impairment compared to standard clinical screening tools.