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Test Reliably Assesses Cognitive Disorders in Children With Epilepsy

Screening for cognitive impairment in children with epilepsy is reliably performed with the Battery for Rapid Evaluation of Cognitive Functions (BREV) neuropsychological test. It is fast and has been carefully standardised and validated, say neurologists from specialist centres in six French cities.

Standardisation tests were undertaken in 500 normally developing children, aged four to eight years. These were then validated by testing specificity and sensitivity of the BREV with a wide reference battery in 202 children with epilepsy (108 males, 94 females). The children had a mean age of six years.

Researchers then divided the children into 10 age groups, from four to eight years, representing eight epileptic syndromes. Verbal and non-verbal intelligence was assessed with the reference battery, using the Wechsler scale, oral language assessment with a French Battery for oral language study, and drawing with the Rey figure. The battery also included the McCarthy scale subsets and the Rey figure recall and assessed educational achievement with the Kaufman subsets.

There was a significant correlation between all functions evaluated with the BREV and the reference battery testing a similar function. Over 75 percent of children displayed a correlation between the specificity and sensitivity of the BREV verbal and non-verbal scores and those of the Wechsler scale.

Researchers concluded that the BREV test is capable of screening children with higher functioning disorders and define the patterns of their disorder.
Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology 2002 Vol 44 pp 398-404. "The BREV neuropsychological test: Part II. Results of validation in children with epilepsy"

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