EP06.01 THE QUETCI: A QUESTIONNAIRE FOR COGNITIVE SCREENING IN NURSING PRACTICE

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Abstract BACKGROUND Cognitive impairment is frequent in brain tumor patients and its early identification is essential to optimize patient care. However, access to comprehensive neuropsychological assessment is often limited by time and resource constraints. Nurses play a central role in coordinating patients’ care, which puts them in an ideal position to spot cognitive difficulties that could impact their safety and quality of life. It seems there is yet to have an assessment tool for cognitive difficulties specifically designed for nursing practice. The aim of this work was to develop a simple and convenient tool allowing nurses to detect cognitive difficulties and assess its acceptability in clinical practice. MATERIAL AND METHODS Developing this tool has led to designing the Cognitive Impairment Evaluation Questionnaire for Nursing Practice (QUETCI). First, it was determined that it should provide an indication about essential cognitive abilities to ensure satisfactory care: orientation, comprehension, memorization, expression and reasoning. An initial version was tested on 50 brain tumor patients, then adjusted after review by neurologists and neuropsychologists. The final version of the QUETCI comprises 8 items, presented on a double-sided sheet. It includes a space dedicated to the patient’s information (native language, education level, employment, handedness). Administration and scoring instructions have also been elaborated. RESULTS The QUETCI was administered to 231 brain-tumor patients at the beginning of medical care. It was particularly well accepted by patients (only 1 refusal), and was administered in its entirety in 95.24% of cases. Partial administration was carried out for 11 patients, either because of language barrier or aphasia. From a qualitative standpoint, it allows nurses to collect information on patients’ cognitive abilities efficiently (less than 15 minutes) which has a positive impact on medical follow-up management and therefore on patient safety (e.g. adherence to treatment, appointment attendance). It also helps in identifying patients requiring comprehensive neuropsychological assessment by a neuropsychologist. CONCLUSION The QUETCI has proven to be an effective tool, easily accepted by patients, and adapted to nursing practice for identifying patients with cognitive difficulties potentially affecting medical care quality. It is also a valuable aid in identifying and referring patients requiring in-depth neuropsychological assessment. Cognitive impairment is common in many pathologies, and nurses often lack objective resources for identifying patients’ difficulties in understanding information, following treatment or planning appointments. Thus, the QUETCI could become a useful tool for nurses practicing in other contexts than neuro-oncology, and encourage better consideration of cognitive impairment in medical care.

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