Caregivers Confirm Usability of Schizophrenia Cognition Rating Scale

A qualitative study involving unpaid and professional caregivers of patients with schizophrenia confirmed the content and usability of the Schizophrenia Cognition Rating Scale (SCoRS), according to a poster presentation at the 2024 Psych Congress.

“These data suggest that impact of relevant cognitive issues can be assessed with caregivers of patients with schizophrenia using an interview-based methodology,” wrote presenter and first author Katie Leaderbrand of Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc.

The 20-item SCoRS assesses input provided by patients with schizophrenia, their caregivers, or their clinicians. To investigate the experience of caregivers with the scale, researchers interviewed 20 unpaid primary caregivers (of whom half were parents, 10% were partners, and 40% were relatives) and 20 professionally trained secondary caregivers (of whom a quarter were therapists).

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Most caregivers (70%-100%) interpreted questions and response items accurately, according to the abstract. Primary caregivers had a slightly lower ease of response than professional, secondary caregivers, but that was because of patient profiles or uncertainty of patient thoughts, researchers reported, rather than properties of the scale.

Both primary and professional, secondary caregivers endorsed most SCoRS items. Two items had lower rates of observation, however: language difficulties leading to conversational confusion and attention in conversation.

[N]evertheless, these items were understood by most caregivers, responses were easy to select, and examples considered useful,” researchers wrote.

All domains were endorsed by at least half of the caregivers interviewed. A full 95% of caregivers living with patients endorsed the attention and problem-solving domains, according to the abstract. Meanwhile, the memory and working memory domains were endorsed by all professional, secondary caregivers.

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. sponsored the poster.

Reference

Leaderbrand K, et al. Content confirmation of the Schizophrenia Cognition Rating Scale (SCoRS): a qualitative study with primary and secondary caregivers. Poster presented at Psych Congress; October 29 – November 2, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts.