Background

Cognitive impairment in patients with neurocysticercosis is frequent, therefore, it is very useful to have prognostic instruments to establish a better management of it.

Objective

to propose a predictive scale of cognitive impairment in adult patients with neurocysticercosis.

Methods

study with a correlational, prospective and cross-sectional design, which included 93 patients with neurocysticercosis. Through data provided by previous research, the variables were selected, which were related to the appearance of cognitive impairment in the bivariate analysis (p<0.05). As a multivariate analysis technique, a multidimensional scaling (PROXSCAL) was performed (s-stress < 0.001 and Tucker's congruence coefficient > 0.999). The prognostic performance of each of the variables was determined by means of sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values, with their respective 9 5% confidence intervals.

Results

a scale with a dichotomous format was developed, which included 7 factors (4 clinical and 3 tomographic), with which a score of 0 to 7 points was obtained for the prediction of cognitive impairment in adult patients with neurocysticercosis, with a probability of: 0-1 point: 75.3 %; 2-3 points: 95 %; ≥ 4 points: 96 %.

Conclusion

The proposed instrument has an acceptable prognostic accuracy; it is simple, reproducible and requires little time for its application. Despite its limitations, it could improve the quality of care for patients with neurocysticercosis, since it allows guiding the management of this condition.

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