Neurocognitive screening following acquired brain injury: an adaptation of the Birmingham Cognitive Screen for Zimbabwe (Zim-BCoS)
type: CreativeWork
description: Neuropsychology as a discipline has not taken root in low- and middle-income countries. Most neurocognitive tests used in these countries were developed and normed in high-income, mostly western countries. The psychometric robustness of these tests is often weak when they are used on low to middle-income clinical populations. The objectives of this study were to select, adapt and generate normative data for a suitable neurocognitive screen for use in Zimbabwe. To achieve these objectives, we divided the study into 4 phases. In Phase 1 of the study, we did a systematic review that identified 83 neurocognitive assessment instruments commonly used in low- and middle-income countries on patients who have suffered a stroke. From these instruments, we selected, adapted and normed the Birmingham Cognitive Screen (BCoS; Humphreys al., 2012) through phases 2 to 4 of this study. The screen offers a robust and sufficiently broad but shallow assessment tool for cognitive deficits across key cognitive domains commonly impaired following a stroke. In particular, in Phase 2 of the study, we evaluated the cross-cultural sensitivity of BCoS on healthy participants (N=105). We then performed surveys using the Delphi method on a panel of experts to culturally adapt BCoS for use in Zimbabwe (Zim-BCoS). We evaluated the inter-rater and test-retest reliability of the translated and validated Zim-BCoS and also compared its agreement with the original BCoS version to determine its robustness. In Phase 3, we evaluated the effects of demographic variables on performance on the cognitive domains assessed by Zim-BCoS. To do this, we performed multiple linear regression analyses to calculate regression-based norms using scores from a sample of healthy participants (N=412). From these analyses, participants' age, level of education and sex had significant effects, mainly on subtests in the language cognitive domain (Picture Naming, Sentence/Word Reading/Writing and Instruction Comprehension). In…
abstract: Neuropsychology as a discipline has not taken root in low- and middle-income countries. Most neurocognitive tests used in these countries were developed and normed in high-income, mostly western countries. The psychometric robustness of these tests is often weak when they are used on low to middle-income clinical populations. The objectives of this study were to select, adapt and generate normative data for a suitable neurocognitive screen for use in Zimbabwe. To achieve these objectives, we divided the study into 4 phases. In Phase 1 of the study, we did a systematic review that identified 83 neurocognitive assessment instruments commonly used in low- and middle-income countries on patients who have suffered a stroke. From these instruments, we selected, adapted and normed the Birmingham Cognitive Screen (BCoS; Humphreys al., 2012) through phases 2 to 4 of this study. The screen offers a robust and sufficiently broad but shallow assessment tool for cognitive deficits across key cognitive domains commonly impaired following a stroke. In particular, in Phase 2 of the study, we evaluated the cross-cultural sensitivity of BCoS on healthy participants (N=105). We then performed surveys using the Delphi method on a panel of experts to culturally adapt BCoS for use in Zimbabwe (Zim-BCoS). We evaluated the inter-rater and test-retest reliability of the translated and validated Zim-BCoS and also compared its agreement with the original BCoS version to determine its robustness. In Phase 3, we evaluated the effects of demographic variables on performance on the cognitive domains assessed by Zim-BCoS. To do this, we performed multiple linear regression analyses to calculate regression-based norms using scores from a sample of healthy participants (N=412). From these analyses, participants' age, level of education and sex had significant effects, mainly on subtests in the language cognitive domain (Picture Naming, Sentence/Word Reading/Writing and Instruction Comprehension). In…
author: Machando, Debra
keywords: Psychology
date published: 2020
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:23:44Z
provider: University of Cape Town
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Department of Psychology

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/32763