title: Indications and expectations for neuropsychological assessment in routine epilepsy care: Report of the ILAE Neuropsychology Task Force, Diagnostic Methods Commission, 2013-2017.
abstract: The International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) Diagnostic Methods Commission charged the Neuropsychology Task Force with the job of developing a set of recommendations to address the following questions: (1) What is the role of a neuropsychological assessment? (2) Who should do a neuropsychological assessment? (3) When should people with epilepsy be referred for a neuropsychological assessment? and (4) What should be expected from a neuropsychological assessment? The recommendations have been broadly written for health care clinicians in established epilepsy settings as well as those setting up new services. They are based on a detailed survey of neuropsychological assessment practices across international epilepsy centers, and formal ranking of specific recommendations for advancing clinical epilepsy care generated by specialist epilepsy neuropsychologists from around the world. They also incorporate the latest research findings to establish minimum standards for training and practice, reflecting the many roles of neuropsychological assessment in the routine care of children and adults with epilepsy. The recommendations endorse routine screening of cognition, mood, and behavior in new-onset epilepsy, and describe the range of situations when more detailed, formal neuropsychological assessment is indicated. They identify a core set of cognitive and psychological domains that should be assessed to provide an objective account of an individual's cognitive, emotional, and psychosocial functioning, including factors likely contributing to deficits identified on qualitative and quantitative examination. The recommendations also endorse routine provision of feedback to patients, families, and clinicians about the implications of the assessment results, including specific clinical recommendations of what can be done to improve a patient's cognitive or psychosocial functioning and alleviate the distress of any difficulties identified. By canvassing the breadth and depth of scope of neuropsychological assessment, this report demonstrates the pivotal role played by this noninvasive and minimally resource intensive investigation in the care of people with epilepsy.
authors.affiliation: Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Austin Health, Melbourne, Australia.|Comprehensive Epilepsy Program, Austin Health, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Sarah J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, UCL Institute of Neurology, NIHR University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Sallie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baxendale
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neurology & Psychiatry, NYU School of Medicine, New York, U.S.A.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Barr
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology & Psychiatry, Assiut University Hospital, Assiut, Egypt.
authors.forename: Sherifa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hamed
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neurology & Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York, U.S.A.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Langfitt
authors.affiliation: Epilepsy Unit, la Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, France.|Neuropsychology and Auditory Cognition, University Lille-Nord de France, France.
authors.forename: Séverine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Samson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The National Center of Neurology & Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Masako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.affiliation: University Department of Neurosciences, Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Gus A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.affiliation: Department of Epileptology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Helmstaedter
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Bruce P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Hermann
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Toronto, Canada.|Neurosciences and Mental Health Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Mary-Lou
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D026683:Advisory Committees / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D019538:Health Care Surveys / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009484:Neuropsychology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
keywords: Adult; Epilepsy; Minimum standards; Neuropsychology; Pediatric; Training