Validating cognitive screening in young people with first-episode psychosis: The CogScreen protocol

Alexandra Stainton; Shayden Bryce; Audrey Rattray; Allie Pert; Isabel Zbukvic; Evangeline Fisher; Debbie Anderson; Stephen C Bowden; Symphony Chakma; Nicholas Cheng; Scott Clark; Caroline Crlenjak; Shona Francey; Caroline Gao; Donna Gee; Elle Gelok; Anthony Harris; Lilianne Hatfield; Liza Hopkins; Candice Jensen; Rachel Morell; Chris O'Halloran; Scot Purdon; K Oliver Schubert; Alana Scully; Hejun Tang; Adrian Thomas; Andrew Thompson; Jacqueline Uren; Stephen J Wood; Wendi Zhao; Kelly Allott

doi:10.1111/eip.13558

Validating cognitive screening in young people with first-episode psychosis: The CogScreen protocol

Early Interv Psychiatry. 2024 May 25. doi: 10.1111/eip.13558. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Alexandra Stainton^{1

2}, Shayden Bryce^{1

2

3}, Audrey Rattray^{1

2}, Allie Pert^{1

2}, Isabel Zbukvic^{1

2}, Evangeline Fisher^{1

2}, Debbie Anderson⁴, Stephen C Bowden⁵, Symphony Chakma¹, Nicholas Cheng^{1

2

6}, Scott Clark^{7

8}, Caroline Crlenjak¹, Shona Francey^{1

2}, Caroline Gao^{1

2

9}, Donna Gee^{1

10}, Elle Gelok¹, Anthony Harris^{11

12

13}, Lilianne Hatfield¹, Liza Hopkins³, Candice Jensen¹⁴, Rachel Morell^{15

16}, Chris O'Halloran³, Scot Purdon¹⁷, K Oliver Schubert^{7

18

19}, Alana Scully²⁰, Hejun Tang¹, Adrian Thomas¹, Andrew Thompson^{1

2

21}, Jacqueline Uren^{3

22}, Stephen J Wood^{1

2

23}, Wendi Zhao¹, Kelly Allott^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Orygen, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
² Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
³ Alfred Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁴ Private Practice, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
⁵ Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
⁶ Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
⁷ Discipline of Psychiatry, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
⁸ Basil Hetzel Institute, Woodville, South Australia, Australia.
⁹ School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
¹⁰ Northwestern Mental Health, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
¹¹ Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
¹² Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia.
¹³ Western Sydney Local Health District Mental Health Services, Western Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
¹⁴ Early Psychosis Team, Bondi Junction Community Health Centre, Bondi Junction, New South Wales, Australia.
¹⁵ Mindgardens Neuroscience Network, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
¹⁶ Discipline of Mental Health and Psychiatry, UNSW, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
¹⁷ Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
¹⁸ Division of Mental Health, Northern Adelaide Local Health Network, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
¹⁹ headspace Adelaide Early Psychosis, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
²⁰ Eastern Suburbs Mental Health Service, SESLHD, Sydney, Australia.
²¹ Division of Mental Health and Wellbeing, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
²² Headspace, Early Psychosis, Southeast Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
²³ School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, UK.

PMID: 38794960
DOI: 10.1111/eip.13558

Abstract

Aim: Cognitive impairments are a core feature of first-episode psychosis (FEP) and one of the strongest predictors of long-term psychosocial functioning. Cognition should be assessed and treated as part of routine clinical care for FEP. Cognitive screening offers the opportunity to rapidly identify and triage those in most need of cognitive support. However, there are currently no validated screening measures for young people with FEP. CogScreen is a hybrid effectiveness-implementation study which aims to evaluate the classification accuracy (relative to a neuropsychological assessment as a reference standard), test-retest reliability and acceptability of two cognitive screening tools in young people with FEP.

Methods: Participants will be 350 young people (aged 12-25) attending primary and specialist FEP treatment centres in three large metropolitan cities (Adelaide, Sydney, and Melbourne) in Australia. All participants will complete a cross-sectional assessment over two sessions including two cognitive screening tools (Screen for Cognitive Impairment in Psychiatry and Montreal Cognitive Assessment), a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment battery, psychiatric and neurodevelopmental assessments, and other supplementary clinical measures. To determine the test-retest reliability of the cognitive screening tools, a subset of 120 participants will repeat the screening measures two weeks later.

Results: The protocol, rationale, and hypotheses for CogScreen are presented.

Conclusions: CogScreen will provide empirical evidence for the validity and reliability of two cognitive screening tools when compared to a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment. The screening measures may later be incorporated into clinical practice to assist with rapid identification and treatment of cognitive deficits commonly experienced by young people with FEP.

Keywords: STARD guidelines; adolescence; assessment; cognition; hybrid design; schizophrenia; youth mental health.

Abstract

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