Cognitive Outcomes and Activity of Daily Living for Neurosurgical Patients with Intrinsic Brain Lesions: A 1-year Prevalence Study

Abstract

Background No prevalence data on cognitive outcomes are available for general neurosurgical patients and few studies have assessed the correlation between common cognitive assessment tools of the occupational therapists and activity of daily living (ADL) at 1 year. Methods Consecutive neurosurgical patients with intrinsic brain lesions (brain tumours, traumatic intracerebral haematomas, spontaneous intracerebral haematomas, and cerebral arteriovenous malformations) were approached for consent to participate in the present study. Results At 1 year, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment score (mean ± standard deviation) was 20.4 (±8.6) and 42% of the patients had scores less than 22. The median number of the Neurobehavioral Cognitive Status Examination domains below the cutoff values was 8 (interquartile range: 3.5–9.75). Conclusions The cognitive assessments–-the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, the Frontal Assessment Battery, and the Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test–-showed satisfactory discriminating power for complete independence in instrumental ADL. Instrumental ADL was best correlated with the Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test.