Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS ) Brief Assessment Cognitive Function Scale ( BACS ) is a battery of six tests that are presented in a certain order, which allows to fully evaluate the areas of cognitive functioning that are most impaired in patients with schizophrenia .
| Cognitive function | Tests (BACS) |
|---|---|
| Information processing speed | Semantic Fluency (5) Motor Test with Chips (3) |
| Working memory | Sequence of numbers (2) |
| Auditory memory | Verbal memory and memorization (1) |
| Executive functions (planning) | Tower of London (6) |
The table shows the correspondence of cognitive functions and battery tests; the order of tests is indicated in parentheses.
The BACS scale was developed at Duke University (Keefe RS et al.), Available in 9 languages, including Russian [1] . A battery of BACS tests requires only about 30 minutes; its use is acceptable both in routine practice and in research. The scale was specifically designed to assess changes in cognitive functions during therapy. It includes alternative forms of tasks, allowing to exclude the effect of training during repeated examination. The scale includes tasks for evaluating the functions of programming and control, speech fluency, working memory, motor skills. Its reliability, validity and comparability of alternative forms was established empirically by battery developers [2] . The composite BACS score has been shown to be sensitive to cognitive deficits in schizophrenia.
Notes
- ↑ Sargsyan G.R., Gurovich I.Ya., Kif R.S. Regulatory data for the Russian population and standardization of the “Brief Assessment of Cognitive Function in Patients with Schizophrenia” (BACS) scale. // Social and clinical psychiatry. T.20. Issue 3. pp. 13-20 ..
- ↑ Keefe RS, Harvey PD, Goldberg TE et al. Norms and standardization of the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) // Schizophrenia Research 102 (2008) 108–115.