Schizophrenia Research: Cognition (Sep 2024)

PsyCog: A computerised mini battery for assessing cognition in psychosis

  • George Gifford,
  • Alexis E. Cullen,
  • Sandra Vieira,
  • Anja Searle,
  • Robert A. McCutcheon,
  • Gemma Modinos,
  • William S. Stone,
  • Emily Hird,
  • Jennifer Barnett,
  • Hendrika H. van Hell,
  • Ana Catalan,
  • Edward Millgate,
  • Nick Taptiklis,
  • Francesca Cormack,
  • Margot E. Slot,
  • Paola Dazzan,
  • Arija Maat,
  • Lieuwe de Haan,
  • Benedicto Crespo Facorro,
  • Birte Glenthøj,
  • Stephen M. Lawrie,
  • Colm McDonald,
  • Oliver Gruber,
  • Thérèse van Amelsvoort,
  • Celso Arango,
  • Tilo Kircher,
  • Barnaby Nelson,
  • Silvana Galderisi,
  • Rodrigo A. Bressan,
  • Jun Soo Kwon,
  • Mark Weiser,
  • Romina Mizrahi,
  • Gabriele Sachs,
  • Matthias Kirschner,
  • Abraham Reichenberg,
  • René Kahn,
  • Philip McGuire

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 37
p. 100310

Abstract

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Despite the functional impact of cognitive deficit in people with psychosis, objective cognitive assessment is not typically part of routine clinical care. This is partly due to the length of traditional assessments and the need for a highly trained administrator. Brief, automated computerised assessments could help to address this issue. We present data from an evaluation of PsyCog, a computerised, non-verbal, mini battery of cognitive tests. Healthy Control (HC) (N = 135), Clinical High Risk (CHR) (N = 233), and First Episode Psychosis (FEP) (N = 301) participants from a multi-centre prospective study were assessed at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months. PsyCog was used to assess cognitive performance at baseline and at up to two follow-up timepoints. Mean total testing time was 35.95 min (SD = 2.87). Relative to HCs, effect sizes of performance impairments were medium to large in FEP patients (composite score G = 1.21, subtest range = 0.52–0.88) and small to medium in CHR patients (composite score G = 0.59, subtest range = 0.18–0.49). Site effects were minimal, and test-retest reliability of the PsyCog composite was good (ICC = 0.82–0.89), though some practice effects and differences in data completion between groups were found. The present implementation of PsyCog shows it to be a useful tool for assessing cognitive function in people with psychosis. Computerised cognitive assessments have the potential to facilitate the evaluation of cognition in psychosis in both research and in clinical care, though caution should still be taken in terms of implementation and study design.

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