The validation of the Italian Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS)

Barbara Poletti; Federica Solca; Laura Carelli; Fabiana Madotto; Annalisa Lafronza; Andrea Faini; Alessia Monti; Stefano Zago; Daniela Calini; Cinzia Tiloca; Alberto Doretti; Federico Verde; Antonia Ratti; Nicola Ticozzi; Sharon Abrahams; Vincenzo Silani

doi:10.1080/21678421.2016.1183679

The validation of the Italian Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS)

Barbara Poletti, Federica Solca, Laura Carelli, Fabiana Madotto, Annalisa Lafronza, Andrea Faini, Alessia Monti, Stefano Zago, Daniela Calini, Cinzia Tiloca, Alberto Doretti, Federico Verde, Antonia Ratti, Nicola Ticozzi, Sharon Abrahams, Vincenzo Silani

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Objective: The study presents the Italian validation of the recently developed Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS), a short screen for cognitive/behavioural alterations in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We evaluated the psychometric properties of the ECAS Italian version in terms of reliability and convergent validity for both cognitive and behavioural features. Furthermore, we investigated the relationship with affective and clinical variables, in addition to ECAS usability and patients’ insight into cognitive/behaviour changes. Finally, correlations between genetic and cognitive/behavioural data were analysed.
Methods: We recruited 107 patients with ALS. Normative data were collected on 248 healthy subjects. Participants were administered the ECAS and two standard cognitive screening tools (FAB; MoCA), two psychological questionnaires (BDI; STAI/Y) and an ad-hoc usability questionnaire. The FBI was also carried out with caregivers.
Results: The ECAS Italian version discriminated well between patients and controls. The most prevalent deficit occurred in executive functions and fluency. Correlations were observed between the ECAS and standard cognitive screening tools and between the ECAS carer interview and the FBI, supporting its full convergent validity.
Conclusions: The ECAS Italian version provides clinicians with a rapid, feasible and sensitive tool, useful to identify different profiles of cognitive-behavioural impairment in ALS.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1-10
Journal	Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/21678421.2016.1183679
Publication status	Published - 24 May 2016

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
cognitive assessment
behaviour change
ECAS

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10.1080/21678421.2016.1183679

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Poletti, B., Solca, F., Carelli, L., Madotto, F., Lafronza, A., Faini, A., Monti, A., Zago, S., Calini, D., Tiloca, C., Doretti, A., Verde, F., Ratti, A., Ticozzi, N., Abrahams, S., & Silani, V. (2016). The validation of the Italian Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS). Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1080/21678421.2016.1183679

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title = "The validation of the Italian Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS)",

abstract = "Objective: The study presents the Italian validation of the recently developed Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS), a short screen for cognitive/behavioural alterations in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We evaluated the psychometric properties of the ECAS Italian version in terms of reliability and convergent validity for both cognitive and behavioural features. Furthermore, we investigated the relationship with affective and clinical variables, in addition to ECAS usability and patients{\textquoteright} insight into cognitive/behaviour changes. Finally, correlations between genetic and cognitive/behavioural data were analysed. Methods: We recruited 107 patients with ALS. Normative data were collected on 248 healthy subjects. Participants were administered the ECAS and two standard cognitive screening tools (FAB; MoCA), two psychological questionnaires (BDI; STAI/Y) and an ad-hoc usability questionnaire. The FBI was also carried out with caregivers.Results: The ECAS Italian version discriminated well between patients and controls. The most prevalent deficit occurred in executive functions and fluency. Correlations were observed between the ECAS and standard cognitive screening tools and between the ECAS carer interview and the FBI, supporting its full convergent validity. Conclusions: The ECAS Italian version provides clinicians with a rapid, feasible and sensitive tool, useful to identify different profiles of cognitive-behavioural impairment in ALS. ",

keywords = "Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), cognitive assessment, behaviour change, ECAS",

author = "Barbara Poletti and Federica Solca and Laura Carelli and Fabiana Madotto and Annalisa Lafronza and Andrea Faini and Alessia Monti and Stefano Zago and Daniela Calini and Cinzia Tiloca and Alberto Doretti and Federico Verde and Antonia Ratti and Nicola Ticozzi and Sharon Abrahams and Vincenzo Silani",

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Poletti, B, Solca, F, Carelli, L, Madotto, F, Lafronza, A, Faini, A, Monti, A, Zago, S, Calini, D, Tiloca, C, Doretti, A, Verde, F, Ratti, A, Ticozzi, N, Abrahams, S & Silani, V 2016, 'The validation of the Italian Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS)', Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration, pp. 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1080/21678421.2016.1183679

TY - JOUR

T1 - The validation of the Italian Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS)

AU - Poletti, Barbara

AU - Solca, Federica

AU - Carelli, Laura

AU - Madotto, Fabiana

AU - Lafronza, Annalisa

AU - Faini, Andrea

AU - Monti, Alessia

AU - Zago, Stefano

AU - Calini, Daniela

AU - Tiloca, Cinzia

AU - Doretti, Alberto

AU - Verde, Federico

AU - Ratti, Antonia

AU - Ticozzi, Nicola

AU - Abrahams, Sharon

AU - Silani, Vincenzo

PY - 2016/5/24

Y1 - 2016/5/24

N2 - Objective: The study presents the Italian validation of the recently developed Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS), a short screen for cognitive/behavioural alterations in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We evaluated the psychometric properties of the ECAS Italian version in terms of reliability and convergent validity for both cognitive and behavioural features. Furthermore, we investigated the relationship with affective and clinical variables, in addition to ECAS usability and patients’ insight into cognitive/behaviour changes. Finally, correlations between genetic and cognitive/behavioural data were analysed. Methods: We recruited 107 patients with ALS. Normative data were collected on 248 healthy subjects. Participants were administered the ECAS and two standard cognitive screening tools (FAB; MoCA), two psychological questionnaires (BDI; STAI/Y) and an ad-hoc usability questionnaire. The FBI was also carried out with caregivers.Results: The ECAS Italian version discriminated well between patients and controls. The most prevalent deficit occurred in executive functions and fluency. Correlations were observed between the ECAS and standard cognitive screening tools and between the ECAS carer interview and the FBI, supporting its full convergent validity. Conclusions: The ECAS Italian version provides clinicians with a rapid, feasible and sensitive tool, useful to identify different profiles of cognitive-behavioural impairment in ALS.

AB - Objective: The study presents the Italian validation of the recently developed Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS), a short screen for cognitive/behavioural alterations in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We evaluated the psychometric properties of the ECAS Italian version in terms of reliability and convergent validity for both cognitive and behavioural features. Furthermore, we investigated the relationship with affective and clinical variables, in addition to ECAS usability and patients’ insight into cognitive/behaviour changes. Finally, correlations between genetic and cognitive/behavioural data were analysed. Methods: We recruited 107 patients with ALS. Normative data were collected on 248 healthy subjects. Participants were administered the ECAS and two standard cognitive screening tools (FAB; MoCA), two psychological questionnaires (BDI; STAI/Y) and an ad-hoc usability questionnaire. The FBI was also carried out with caregivers.Results: The ECAS Italian version discriminated well between patients and controls. The most prevalent deficit occurred in executive functions and fluency. Correlations were observed between the ECAS and standard cognitive screening tools and between the ECAS carer interview and the FBI, supporting its full convergent validity. Conclusions: The ECAS Italian version provides clinicians with a rapid, feasible and sensitive tool, useful to identify different profiles of cognitive-behavioural impairment in ALS.

KW - Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

KW - cognitive assessment

KW - behaviour change

KW - ECAS

U2 - 10.1080/21678421.2016.1183679

DO - 10.1080/21678421.2016.1183679

M3 - Article

SN - 2167-8421

SP - 1

EP - 10

JO - Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration

JF - Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration

ER -

The validation of the Italian Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS)

Abstract

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

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