Advances in psychometric tests for screening minimal hepatic encephalopathy: From paper-and-pencil to computer-aided assessment

Özet

Minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) is a major neuropsychiatric complication of liver cirrhosis and portosystemic shunting. AlthoughMHE produces a spectrum of cognitive impairments in the domains of short-term attention, working memory, and executive function, itgenerally does not present with obvious clinical manifestation on conventional assessments. Paper-and-pencil psychometric tests, such asthe psychometric hepatic encephalopathy score and the repeatable battery for the assessment of neuropsychological status, are recommended to diagnose MHE. However, these tests are neither rapid nor convenient to use in practice. To facilitate repeated testing in clinicand follow-up, computer-aided psychometric tests, such as the scan test, Cognitive Drug Research assessment battery, inhibitory controltest, EncephalApp Stroop App, and critical flicker frequency, have been used to screen for MHE among patients with liver cirrhosis. The aimof this review was to describe the progression from the utility of paper-and-pencil to computer-aided psychometric tests for MHE screeningin clinical practice.