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Brief neuropsychological profiles in psychosis: a pilot study using the Audio Recorded Cognitive Screen (ARCS)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 June 2014

Carmel M Loughland*
Affiliation:
Schizophrenia Research Institute (SRI), Sydney, NSW, Australia Centre for Brain and Mental Health Research, University of Newcastle and Hunter New England Mental Health, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Joanne Allen
Affiliation:
Schizophrenia Research Institute (SRI), Sydney, NSW, Australia Centre for Brain and Mental Health Research, University of Newcastle and Hunter New England Mental Health, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Louisa Gianacas
Affiliation:
Schizophrenia Research Institute (SRI), Sydney, NSW, Australia Centre for Brain and Mental Health Research, University of Newcastle and Hunter New England Mental Health, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Peter W Schofield
Affiliation:
Centre for Brain and Mental Health Research, University of Newcastle and Hunter New England Mental Health, Newcastle, NSW, Australia Neuropsychiatry Service, Hunter New England Mental Health, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Terry J Lewin
Affiliation:
Schizophrenia Research Institute (SRI), Sydney, NSW, Australia Centre for Brain and Mental Health Research, University of Newcastle and Hunter New England Mental Health, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Mick Hunter
Affiliation:
Centre for Brain and Mental Health Research, University of Newcastle and Hunter New England Mental Health, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Vaughan J Carr
Affiliation:
Schizophrenia Research Institute (SRI), Sydney, NSW, Australia School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
*
Carmel M Loughland, Centre for Brain and Mental Health Research, University of Newcastle, PO Box 833, Newcastle, New South Wales 2300, Australia. Tel: +61 2 4033 5722; Fax: +61 2 4033 5692; E-mail: carmel.loughland@newcastle.edu.au

Abstract

Loughland CM, Allen J, Gianacas L, Schofield PW, Lewin TJ, Hunter M, Carr VJ. Brief neuropsychological profiles in psychosis: a pilot study using the Audio Recorded Cognitive Screen (ARCS).

Objective:

This pilot study examines the utility of a novel, standardised brief neuropsychological assessment tool (the ARCS, Audio Recorded Cognitive Screen) in a different clinical setting to that in which it was initially developed. We hypothesised that the ARCS would be feasible to administer to individuals with a psychotic illness and that it would detect cognitive deficits similar to those identified by an established instrument (the RBANS, Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status).

Methods:

Twenty-five people with psychosis (mean age = 43.72, SD = 9.78) and 25 age- and gender-matched controls were recruited from the Newcastle community (NSW, Australia). The ARCS and RBANS were completed about 1 week apart in a counterbalanced order.

Results:

The ARCS was well received, performed satisfactorily and both the ARCS and RBANS were sensitive to deficits typically associated with psychosis (e.g. memory and attention). After controlling for memory deficits, the largest disparity between the psychosis and control groups was on the ARCS fluency domain [p < 0.001, partial Eta-squared (ηp2) = 0.21].

Conclusion:

The ARCS uses audio administration (approximately 34 min) to reduce clinician time (to 3–5 min for scoring) and appears to be a useful brief assessment tool for examining the cognitive deficits associated with psychosis. However, the potential clinical utility of the ARCS needs to be investigated further in larger samples drawn from a wider variety of specialist and non-specialist settings.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S

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