The OCS (Oxford Cognitive Screen) is a clinically grounded cognitive screening tool specifically designed for stroke survivors, delivering a quick yet comprehensive bedside assessment that accommodates the common post-stroke impairments of aphasia and neglect. It offers an accessible and inclusive evaluation of cognitive functioning across five domains, providing a clear visual summary to guide clinical decision-making.
Cognitive impairment is a common consequence of stroke, yet many standard cognitive screening tools fail to accommodate the unique challenges presented by stroke-related conditions such as aphasia, visual neglect, and motor deficits. Traditional assessments often conflate cognitive deficits with these comorbidities, leading to under- or mis-diagnosis. The Oxford Cognitive Screen was developed in response to this gap, offering a stroke-specific solution that minimizes confounding factors and ensures a more accurate cognitive profile.
Why use the Oxford Cognitive Screen, what are the principles and how are the different cognitive domains assessed?
Target Condition: Stroke
Population: Adult stroke survivors, including those with aphasia, hemiplegia and neglect
Respondent Type: Patients/Clinician
Assessment Domains:
Format: Paper-based and bedside-administered tool
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The OCS scoring system generates a visual cognitive profile, offering clinicians an intuitive summary of a patient’s performance across five key domains. The results help to pinpoint domain-specific impairments, facilitating tailored rehabilitation plans. The scoring is structured to reduce interpretation bias and enhance comparability between assessments.
How to score and interpret the Oxford Cognitive Screen. Tasks by task typical responses and troubleshooting followed by how to interpret and how to report using the OCS visual snapshot ‘wheel of cognition’.
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Developed by researchers at the University of Oxford, the OCS was created with direct clinical applicability in mind. The tool was rigorously validated with stroke patient populations to ensure sensitivity to common cognitive deficits in this group, while also being robust against co-occurring conditions that can complicate assessment.
Original Language: UK English
Developers: Prof. Nele Demeyere, Prof. Glyn Humphreys, Prof. Jane Riddoch, Dr Wai-Ling Bickerton
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The OCS is administered bedside by clinicians or trained healthcare professionals. It requires no specialist equipment and is suitable for use in acute settings.
The Tele-OCS is a version of the OCS to be administered remotely (i.e., via telephone or video call). Some materials are posted to stroke survivors ahead of time and then opened when instructed during the remote assessment. These materials subsequently either need to be shown on the screen (video) or posted back (telephone). The Tele-OCS has some preliminary evidence of equivalence to the in-person assessment of the OCS, with scores on both versions largely overlapping.
Mini-OCS is available for use within settings with tighter time constraints, offering a briefer yet reliable alternative.
Support materials include:
How to use the Oxford Cognitive Screen: how to assess, move the papers around and ask questions: a demonstration.
Remote administration:
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The latest extensive online training modules were developed in collaboration with our Australian colleagues and can be found here. These are online modules that can be freely accessed and we would highly recommend these, especially if you are new to cognitive screening or new to working in the area of stroke.
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