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.

Evaluation of the INECO Frontal Screening and the Frontal Assessment Battery in Peruvian patients with Alzheimer's disease and behavioral variant Frontotemporal dementia

“…The IFS was designed to include several subtests in order to measure, in an efficient way, as many EF as possible. Previous studies have shown promising diagnostic performance [6] , [7] , [8] , [9] , [10] . Thus, it arises as an encouraging alternative for early detection of dementia cases.…”

Evaluation of sensitivity and specificity of the INECO Frontal Screening and the Frontal Assessment Battery in mild cognitive impairment

“…On the other hand, IFS is a brief neuropsychological test designed to explore executive functions across neurodegenerative pathologies such as AD, 13 behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, 14 Multiple Sclerosis (relapsing-remitting phase), 15 MCI, 16 and MCI in Parkinson's disease. 17 IFS is composed of eight subtests, organized into three main executive domains: 18 1) inhibition and change, 2) working memory, and 3) capacity for abstraction.…”

INECO Frontal Screening (IFS): una herramienta psicométrica para evaluar la disfunción ejecutiva en policonsumidores

“…Estos resultados coinciden con las investigaciones en casos clínicos; en este sentido, el estudio de pacientes con demencia realizado por Manes y su grupo obtuvo un corte de 25 puntos, con una sensibilidad del 96.2% y especificidad del 91.5%; y un área bajo la curva de 0.98 (Torralva, Roca, Gleichgerrcht, López et al, 2009). De manera similar el estudio desarrollado por Bruno y colaboradores, el uso del IFS en pacientes con esclerosis múltiple obtuvo un punto de corte de 25.5, con una sensibilidad del 73.53% y especificidad del 78.13%; con una área bajo la curva de 0.85 (Bruno et al, 2015).…”