The Oxford Cognitive Screen – Plus (OCS-Plus): a tablet based short cognitive screening tool for milder cognitive impairment.

Abstract

The Oxford Cognitive Screen was developed as a brief screening tool for common post-stroke focal cognitive deficits, including language, memory, attention, praxis, and number-processing impairments. Here, we present the OCS-Plus, a computerised tablet-based screen designed to briefly assess domain-general cognition and provide more fine-grained measures of memory and executive function. The OCS-Plus was designed to sensitively screen for subtle cognitive impairments and differentiate between memory and non-memory deficits. The OCS-Plus contains 10 subtasks and requires approximately 30 minutes to complete. In this study, 320 neurologically healthy ageing participants (age M=62.66, SD=13.75) from three sites completed the OCS-Plus to provide a normative sample. The convergent validity of this assessment was established in comparison to the ACE-R, CERAD and Rey-Osterrieth. Divergent validity was established through comparison with the BDI. Internal consistency of each subtask was evaluated and test-retest reliability was determined. We established the normative impairment cut-offs for each of the subtests. Predicted convergent and divergent validity was found as well as strong test-retest reliability, which provided evidence of test stability. Further research demonstrating the use and validity of the OCS-Plus in various clinical populations is required. The OCS-Plus is a standardised cognitive screening tool, normed and validated in a large sample of neurologically healthy participants. The OCS-Plus is available as an Android App and provides an automated report of domain-general cognitive impairments in executive attention and memory.