Oxford Cognitive Screen – Brazilian Portuguese version (OCS-Br) A pilot study

Cognitive impairment is very common in stroke patients and underdiagnosed. Symptoms such as language, praxis, visuospatial, visuoconstructive and memory impairment are prominent. The screening cognitive tests available do not address some specific characteristics of stroke patients and have major limitations in relation to the most impaired cognitive domains. OBJECTIVE: To test the applicability of a Brazilian version of the Oxford Cognitive Screen in a convenience sample of individuals with normal cognition. METHODS: Thirty neurologically healthy participants underwent the OCS-Br in this pilot study. RESULTS: The mean score on each task was: naming: 3.4 (SD=0.72) (maximum value of 4); semantics: 3 (SD=0) (maximum 3); orientation: 4 (SD=0) (maximum 4); visual field: 4 (SD=0) (maximum 4); sentence reading: 14.53 (SD: 1) (maximum 15); number writing: 2.86 (0.6) (maximum 3); calculation: 3.8 (SD=0.48) (maximum 4); and accuracy on the broken hearts test: 47.3 (3.3) (maximum 50). The scores obtained were similar to those of the English original sample. CONCLUSION: We observed similar values on each separate OCS task in comparison to the original test, confirming that the Brazilian Portuguese version is comparable to other studies.