Publications by authors named "Michael Jaworski"
Background: The Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) is a gold-standard measure of cognitive efficiency and processing speed for people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) but relies on vision and oculomotor function.
Objectives: To develop and validate a new processing speed test with minimal memory involvement and no eye function requirements.
Methods: We created an Auditory Test of Processing Speed (ATOPS).
Background: The existence of isolated cognitive relapses (ICRs) in persons with MS (PwMS) has been debated.
Objective: To examine relapses with decline on Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) but no change on Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS).
Methods: This 3-year prospective cohort study identified PwMS experiencing a relapse with decrease on SDMT.
Background: Employment deterioration is common in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). Clinicians often learn of job loss after its occurrence, leaving no opportunity for preventive measures.
Objectives: Identify which neuropsychological measures discriminate between healthy volunteers (HVs) and employed/disabled PwMS at baseline and predict work deterioration over 2 years.
Repeated forms, testing intervals, and SDMT performance in a large multiple sclerosis dataset.
Mult Scler Relat Disord
December 2022
Background: The Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), the most reliable and sensitive measure of cognition in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS), is increasingly used in clinical trials and care.
Objectives: We aimed to establish how SDMT performance is influenced by repeating forms and frequency of use in PwMS.
Methods: A retrospective analysis was completed on a large database of PwMS (n = 740) with multiple SDMT administrations.
Background: Conscientiousness, or the proclivity for deliberation, achievement, and order, declines in many individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). Decreased conscientiousness predicts future cognitive deterioration, brain atrophy, and employment loss in individuals with MS. As a psychological trait, it may be an actionable antecedent to these important outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Previous studies have established benchmarks of clinically meaningful decline on neuropsychological tests. However, little is known about meaningful testing benchmarks based on gains in function.
Objective: Investigate neuropsychological changes in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with work gains and calculate benchmarks of meaningful improvement on neuropsychological tests.
Due to increasingly improved disability outcomes, and the resultant significantly improved life span, of the multiple sclerosis (MS) population, questions regarding cognitive aging and the prevalence of comorbid Alzheimer disease (AD) have emerged. We describe neuropsychological and MRI-based changes that occurred in an 84-year-old MS patient with comorbid amnestic mild cognitive impairment (a precursor to AD) and cerebrovascular pathology. The neuropsychological examination demonstrated impairment in cognitive processing speed as well as in verbal and visual memory-domains that are potentially affected by any, or all, of the three co-existing diseases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Physical and cognitive symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS) correlate with unemployment cross-sectionally. Prospective studies, rarely published, have not accounted for personality traits such as Conscientiousness.
Methods: In a 3-year study of 70 people with MS (PwMS) and 25 healthy controls (HCs), we evaluated employment status using online interviews capturing hours worked, negative work events, employee relations, and accommodations.
Background: The proliferation of computerized neuropsychological assessment devices (CNADs) for screening and monitoring cognitive impairment is increasing exponentially. Previous reviews of computerized tests for multiple sclerosis (MS) were primarily qualitative and did not rigorously compare CNADs on psychometric properties.
Objective: We aimed to systematically review the literature on the use of CNADs in MS and identify test batteries and single tests with good evidence for reliability and validity.
Background: Increasingly favorable mortality prognosis in multiple sclerosis (MS) raises questions regarding MS-specific cognitive aging and the presence of comorbidities such as Alzheimer's disease (AD).
Objective: To assess elderly with MS (EwMS) and age-matched healthy controls (HCs) using both MS- and AD-specific psychometrics.
Methods: EwMS ( = 104) and 56 HCs were assessed on a broad spectrum of language, visual-spatial processing, memory, processing speed, and executive function tests.