title: Utility of the INECO frontal screening (IFS) in the detection of executive dysfunction in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS).
abstract: Several studies have reported that about 65 % of patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) suffer from cognitive impairment, with executive dysfunction being the most frequently described. Even if several executive screening tests have been designed to specifically detect executive deficits, few studies have investigated their ability to tackle such dysfunction particularly in multiple sclerosis (MS). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the INECO frontal screening (IFS) in the detection of executive dysfunction in patients with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS). 54 patients with RRMS were included in the study. 34 presented executive dysfunction while 20 did not. 32 control subjects matched for age, sex, and educational level were also included. All were evaluated with the IFS and with a battery of classical executive tests. A patient was considered to have executive dysfunction if he/she scored a one and a half standard deviation below the control mean in at least one of the classical executive tests. Sensitivity and specificity of the IFS in its ability to detect executive dysfunction in MS was analyzed. Using a cut-off of 25.5 points, sensitivity of the IFS was 73.53 %, and specificity 78.13 % in differentiating controls from MS patients with executive dysfunction. The IFS showed excellent concurrent validity with executive tasks. The IFS can be considered a brief, easy-to-administer, cost-less tool for the detection of executive dysfunction in patients with RRMS.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bruno
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO), Buenos Aires, Argentina.|Institute of Neurosciences at Favaloro Foundation, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Torralva
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Marenco
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: J Torres
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Ardilla
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baez
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, USA.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gleichgerrcht
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO), Buenos Aires, Argentina.|Institute of Neurosciences at Favaloro Foundation, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sinay
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO), Buenos Aires, Argentina. mroca@ineco.org.ar.|Institute of Neurosciences at Favaloro Foundation, Buenos Aires, Argentina. mroca@ineco.org.ar.|UDP-INECO Foundation Core on Neuroscience (UIFCoN), Diego Portales University, Santiago, Chile. mroca@ineco.org.ar.|National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina. mroca@ineco.org.ar.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Roca
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D056344:Executive Function; D006801:Humans; D020529:Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012372:ROC Curve; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
keywords: Cognitive impairment; Executive functions; Executive screening tests; Multiple sclerosis