Multivariate Base Rates of Low Score on Neuropsychological Tests of Individuals with Coca Paste Use Disorder

Objective The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of low scores on eight commonly used neuropsychological tests to evaluate learning and memory, language, and executive functions in individuals with coca paste use disorders (CPUD) and to identify the differences with respect to a group of healthy nonconsuming subjects (HCs). Methods 162 Colombian adults with CPUD and a group of 162 Colombian adult HCs participated in this comparative study. Eight tests (eighteen test scores) were grouped into three categories: learning and memory, language, and executive functions. Each participant was categorized based on the number of low scoring tests in specific percentile cut-off groups (25th, 16th, 10th, 5th, and 2nd). Results In the learning and memory domain, 89.5% of individuals with CPUD and 55.6% of HCs scored below the 25th percentile on at least one of the five test scores, in the language domain, 80.7% of individuals with CPUD and 58% of HCs and in the executive function domain, 92% of individuals with CPUD and 67.3% of HCs. Having two or more scores below the 10th percentile or 10 or more at the 5th percentile shows an optimal cut-off for determining the sensitivity and specificity for discriminating between the two groups. Conclusions The individuals with CPUD had a higher percentage of low scores than the HCs in the domains of learning and memory, language, and executive function. It is important for clinicians to be aware of low scores in individuals with CPUD to avoid false-positive diagnoses of cognitive impairment

Early Predictors of Employment Status One Year Post Injury in Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury in Europe

Sustaining a traumatic brain injury (TBI) often affects the individual's ability to work, reducing employment rates post-injury across all severities of TBI. The objective of this multi-country study was to assess the most relevant early predictors of employment status in individuals after TBI at one-year post-injury in European countries. Using a prospective longitudinal non-randomized observational cohort (The Collaborative European NeuroTrauma Effectiveness Research in TBI (CENTER-TBI) project), data was collected between December 2014-2019 from 63 trauma centers in 18 European countries. The 1015 individuals who took part in this study were potential labor market participants, admitted to a hospital and enrolled within 24 h of injury with a clinical TBI diagnosis and indication for a computed tomography (CT) scan, and followed up at one year. Results from a binomial logistic regression showed that older age, status of part-time employment or unemployment at time of injury, premorbid psychiatric problems, and higher injury severity (as measured with higher Injury severity score (ISS), lower Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), and longer length of stay (LOS) in hospital) were associated with higher unemployment probability at one-year after injury. The study strengthens evidence for age, employment at time of injury, premorbid psychiatric problems, ISS, GCS, and LOS as important predictors for employment status one-year post-TBI across Europe

Cognitive Changes and Quality of Life in Neurocysticercosis: A Longitudinal Study

Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is one of the most common parasitic infections of the central nervous system. Cognitive changes have been frequently reported with this disease but have not been well studied. Our study team recruited a group of new onset NCC cases and a matched set of healthy neighborhood controls and new onset epilepsy controls in Lima, Peru for this study. A neuropsychological battery was administered at baseline and at 6 months to all groups. Brain MRI studies were also obtained on NCC cases at baseline and at 6 months. Newly diagnosed patients with NCC had mild cognitive deficits and more marked decreases in quality of life at baseline compared with controls. Improvements were found in both cognitive status and quality of life in patients with NCC after treatment. This study is the first to assess cognitive status and quality of life longitudinally in patients with NCC and provides new data on an important clinical morbidity outcome