Ann Child Neurol.  2022 Jul;30(3):75-81. 10.26815/acn.2022.00059.

Screening Children with Epilepsy for Cognitive Deficits Using the Modified Mini-Mental Scale Examination and the Digit Letter Substitution Test

• Balwani M
• Passi GR

• KMID: 2548643
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.26815/acn.2022.00059

Abstract

Purpose
Children with epilepsy commonly have cognitive deficits; however, full-length neuropsy-chological testing is time- and resource-intensive. Therefore, we evaluated the feasibility of using the modified Mini-Mental Scale Examination (MMSE) and the Digit Letter Substitution Test (DLST) to screen children with epilepsy for cognitive deficits.
Methods
This was a prospective case-control study comparing scores on the MMSE and the DLST in children with epilepsy with normal age-matched controls between 8 and 12 years of age.
Results
In 35 cases and 36 controls, the cases had significantly lower (P<0.05) mean scores than the controls. The correlation coefficient between the MMSE and DLST scores was 0.902 (P<0.001). Children with developmental or speech delays and an epilepsy duration ≥5 years had lower scores than those without the corresponding risk factors.
Conclusion
This study demonstrated significantly lower scores on the MMSE and DLST in chil-dren with epilepsy than in controls, as well as significantly lower scores in patients with develop-mental or speech delays and an epilepsy duration ≥5 years.

Keyword

Epilepsy; Cognition; Child; Neuropsychological tests