title: Toward a more parsimonious assessment of neurocognition in schizophrenia: a 10-minute assessment tool.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Many individuals with schizophrenia experience a profound deficit in global cognitive ability, which is related to poor functional outcomes. Historically, the standard of assessing neurocognitive impairments is one of extensive neuropsychological batteries that are labour-intensive. The present study examined whether a brief neurocognitive assessment (BNA) instrument could effectively estimate global neurocognition and further examined its clinical utility.
  
  
  METHODS
  The validity and clinical utility of a BNA that takes approximately 10 min to administer was examined against a full neuropsychological battery that takes approximately 90 min to administer in a large and heterogeneous sample of 1303 patients with schizophrenia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The BNA explained 76% of the variance in global neurocognition in the total sample and remained consistent in subsamples stratified by clinical characteristics (e.g., severity of psychopathology) and in randomized re-sampling simulations. The two items that comprised the BNA were the letter-number sequencing test, a measure of working memory, and the digit-symbol test, a measure of processing speed. Next, perhaps more importantly, the BNA and full neuropsychological battery were related to symptoms and functional status to a similar degree in both univariate and multivariate regression models; moreover, both instruments were sensitive to longitudinal treatment related change to a similar degree.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The BNA is able to rapidly, easily, and validly assess global neurocognition in schizophrenia. The BNA was associated with important clinical outcomes to a similar degree as a full cognitive battery. This tool provides clinicians and researchers a means to assess global neurocognitive impairments without requiring extensive neuropsychological testing.
authors: Schizophrenia Division, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada; Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. Electronic address: gagan.fervaha@utoronto.ca.
authors: Gagan
authors: G
authors: Fervaha
authors: Schizophrenia Division, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors: Ofer
authors: O
authors: Agid
authors: Schizophrenia Division, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada; Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors: George
authors: G
authors: Foussias
authors: Schizophrenia Division, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada; Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors: Gary
authors: G
authors: Remington
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Brief neurocognitive assessment; Cognition; Neuropsychological testing; Psychopathology; Psychosocial functioning; Schizophrenia