ABSTRACT: Further Validation of the Orientation and Cognitive Logs

Question: Are the Orientation Log and Cognitive Log valid screening measure of thinking skills?

Early Studies: The Orientation Log and Cognitive Log were developed to provide a quick, bedside measure of thinking skills to track recovery following TBI.  These scales are reliable and are predictive of performance on extended assessment of thinking skills and recovery at one year after injury.  A comparison of the Orientation Log and Cognitive Log to an established screening measure of thinking skills is needed to further confirm the validity of these scales.

This study included 45 people receiving acute rehabilitation (68% of the them TBI cases).  The Orientation Log involves questions on location, time (such as date, day of week), and awareness of why a person is receiving treatment.  The Cognitive Log has questions focusing on concentration and memory abilities.  Both of these scales can be given at bedside and take a few minutes.  The subjects in the study were administered these tests, as well as the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), an established screening test of thinking skills.  The MMSE score correlated significantly with the Orientation Log and Cognitive Log.  This means that the Orientation Log and Cognitive Log can be used with confidence as general brief measures of thinking ability

Who May Be Affected By These Findings: People with traumatic brain injury, care providers in acute rehabilitation.

Caveats: Having a brief measure of thinking skills is not a replacement for a more detailed testing of cognitive skills, such as in a neuropsychological evaluation.

Bottom Line:  The Orientation Log and Cognitive Log can be used to briefly assess cognitive skills at bedside.

Find This Study: Penna S, Novack T. Further validation of the Orientation and Cognitive Logs relative to the Mini Mental Status Exam. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 2007; 88: 1360-1361.