title: Brief cognitive assessment instruments in schizophrenia and bipolar patients, and healthy control subjects: a comparison study between the Brief Cognitive Assessment Tool for Schizophrenia (B-CATS) and the Screen for Cognitive Impairment in Psychiatry (SCIP).
abstract: Cognitive impairment in schizophrenia and psychosis is ubiquitous and acknowledged as a core feature of clinical expression, pathophysiology, and prediction of functioning. However, assessment of cognitive functioning is excessively time-consuming in routine practice, and brief cognitive instruments specific to psychosis would be of value. Two screening tools have recently been created to address this issue, i.e., the Brief Cognitive Assessment Tool for Schizophrenia (B-CATS) and the Screen for Cognitive Impairment in Psychiatry (SCIP). The aim of this research was to examine the comparative validity of these two brief instruments in relation to a global cognitive score. 161 patients with psychosis (96 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and 65 patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder) and 76 healthy control subjects were tested with both instruments to examine their concurrent validity relative to a more comprehensive neuropsychological assessment battery. Scores from the B-CATS and the SCIP were highly correlated in the three diagnostic groups, and both scales showed good to excellent concurrent validity relative to a Global Cognitive Composite Score (GCCS) derived from the more comprehensive examination. The SCIP-S showed better predictive value of global cognitive impairment than the B-CATS. Partial and semi-partial correlations showed slightly higher percentages of both shared and unique variance between the SCIP-S and the GCCS than between the B-CATS and the GCCS. Brief instruments for assessing cognition in schizophrenia and bipolar disorders, such as the SCIP-S and B-CATS, seem to be reliable and promising tools for use in routine clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Hospitalization Unit, Hospital Virgen del Camino, Pamplona-Iruña, Spain. mj.cuesta.zorita@cfnavarra.es
authors.forename: Manuel J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Cuesta
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Pino
authors.forename: Georgina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Guilera
authors.forename: J Emilio
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Rojo
authors.forename: Juana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gómez-Benito
authors.forename: Scot E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Purdon
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Franco
authors.forename: Anabel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martínez-Arán
authors.forename: Nuria
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Segarra
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tabarés-Seisdedos
authors.forename: Eduard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vieta
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bernardo
authors.forename: Benedicto
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Crespo-Facorro
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mesa
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rejas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019540:Area Under Curve; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index