QOL-23. DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTERACTIVE APP FOR DYNAMIC SCREENING OF BASIC SENSORY COGNITIVE AND MOTOR ABILITIES OF PAEDIATRIC PATIENTS WITH BRAIN TUMOURS

摘要

Assessment of basic sensory, cognitive, and motor functions is fundamental for neuropsychological profiling of pediatric patients with brain tumor. Neuropsychological profiling is used to determine extent of functional capacity, pre and post treatment, and in monitoring progression against typical development over time, and in response to intervention. Assessments are usually conducted on an individual basis, with a trained clinical neuropsychologist, using standardized paper and pencil tests, which can take up over an hour to complete. If more than one assessment is required this can result in multiple or lengthy assessment schedules. Standardized assessments are usually normed on typically developing populations from one country, thus limiting their translational utility. Assessments from one publishing house are rarely co-normed with those from another, rendering exploration of associations between assessments/functions unfeasible, without the presence of a typically developing control group. This limits the efficiency and effectiveness of clinical neuropsychology services that are often under-resourced. To address these limitations, we have developed an interactive app, delivered on touch-screen tablets, that has potential to screen for basic sensory, cognitive, and motor abilities of paediatric patients with brain tumours on admission to hospital and to track functional decline or improvements over time, on a self-referenced and/or norm-referenced basis. This could improve the precision of clinical care given to patients, by identifying those most in need of formal clinical neuropsychological assessment and follow up, and directing intervention to targeted domains. In turn, this could enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of service provision within clinical neuropsychology units worldwide.