Approximately 40% of all patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) exhibit some form of cognitive impairment. Identifying impairment in these patients would be beneficial to the patients and to society. However, it is too costly to refer every MS patient for full neuropsychological testing. Consequently, many attempts have been made to develop screening batteries for use by neurologists. Unfortunately, these batteries are rarely used clinically as all require approximately 20-40 minutes to administer and most require special equipment. Given the time constraints of an office visit it is unrealistic to expect neurologists to administer such tests. The present pilot study is an attempt to assess whether a brief screening instrument, the bedside examination of cognition in MS (BECIMS), which requires less than 10 minutes to administer, would exhibit adequate sensitivity and specificity in identifying MS patients with cognitive impairment. Nine MS subjects and eight normal controls were tested. The BECIMS correctly predicted the cognitive status of 13 of the 17 subjects. Specific suggestions are made for the further development of the BECIMS, which will likely result in a test with clinical significance.
","abstract_html":"<p>Approximately 40% of all patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) exhibit some form of cognitive impairment. Identifying impairment in these patients would be beneficial to the patients and to society. However, it is too costly to refer every MS patient for full neuropsychological testing. Consequently, many attempts have been made to develop screening batteries for use by neurologists. Unfortunately, these batteries are rarely used clinically as all require approximately 20-40 minutes to administer and most require special equipment. Given the time constraints of an office visit it is unrealistic to expect neurologists to administer such tests. The present pilot study is an attempt to assess whether a brief screening instrument, the bedside examination of cognition in MS (BECIMS), which requires less than 10 minutes to administer, would exhibit adequate sensitivity and specificity in identifying MS patients with cognitive impairment. Nine MS subjects and eight normal controls were tested. The BECIMS correctly predicted the cognitive status of 13 of the 17 subjects. Specific suggestions are made for the further development of the BECIMS, which will likely result in a test with clinical significance.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Aaen, Gregory Scott"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Paul Haerich","Louis E. Jenkins","Craig A. Muir"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2000,"date_issued":"2000-06-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2000-06-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:54:10Z","subjects":["Psychology","Multiple Sclerosis -- diagnosis; Cognitive Symptoms; Cognition."],"languages":["English"],"rights":["This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/1044","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Paul Haerich","Louis E. Jenkins","Craig A. Muir"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Aaen, Gregory Scott"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Psychology","Multiple Sclerosis -- diagnosis; Cognitive Symptoms; Cognition."]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/1044"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Approximately 40% of all patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) exhibit some form of cognitive impairment. Identifying impairment in these patients would be beneficial to the patients and to society. However, it is too costly to refer every MS patient for full neuropsychological testing. Consequently, many attempts have been made to develop screening batteries for use by neurologists. Unfortunately, these batteries are rarely used clinically as all require approximately 20-40 minutes to administer and most require special equipment. Given the time constraints of an office visit it is unrealistic to expect neurologists to administer such tests. The present pilot study is an attempt to assess whether a brief screening instrument, the bedside examination of cognition in MS (BECIMS), which requires less than 10 minutes to administer, would exhibit adequate sensitivity and specificity in identifying MS patients with cognitive impairment. Nine MS subjects and eight normal controls were tested. The BECIMS correctly predicted the cognitive status of 13 of the 17 subjects. Specific suggestions are made for the further development of the BECIMS, which will likely result in a test with clinical significance.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Development of a Bedside Examination of Cognition in Multiple Sclerosis (BECIMS)"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Paul Haerich","Louis E. Jenkins","Craig A. Muir"],"dc:creator":["Aaen, Gregory Scott"],"dc:description.abstract":["Approximately 40% of all patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) exhibit some form of cognitive impairment. Identifying impairment in these patients would be beneficial to the patients and to society. However, it is too costly to refer every MS patient for full neuropsychological testing. Consequently, many attempts have been made to develop screening batteries for use by neurologists. Unfortunately, these batteries are rarely used clinically as all require approximately 20-40 minutes to administer and most require special equipment. Given the time constraints of an office visit it is unrealistic to expect neurologists to administer such tests. The present pilot study is an attempt to assess whether a brief screening instrument, the bedside examination of cognition in MS (BECIMS), which requires less than 10 minutes to administer, would exhibit adequate sensitivity and specificity in identifying MS patients with cognitive impairment. Nine MS subjects and eight normal controls were tested. The BECIMS correctly predicted the cognitive status of 13 of the 17 subjects. Specific suggestions are made for the further development of the BECIMS, which will likely result in a test with clinical significance.
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