Table 2

Assessment of neurocognitive dysfunction

Domain	Test protocol	Kara et al 32	Colak et al 28	Rogers et al 3 6	Mohandas et al 33	Slater et al 34
Timing		Baseline and and predischarge	Baseline and 7 days	Baseline, 7 days and 3 months	Baseline, 7 days and 3 months	Baseline, predischarge and 3 months
Attention	Trail-Making Test parts A and B, or equivalent		X (CTT)	X		X (SCW)
Verbal memory	Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (VLT) or Hopkins VLT			X		X
Visuospatial	Block Design from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale			X
Psychomotor speed	Digit Symbol Test from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale			X
Executive function/verbal fluency	Controlled Oral Word Association Test			X
Motor coordination	Grooved Pegboard Test		X	X		X
Other	Saccadic and antisaccadic eye movements		X		X	X
	Montreal Cognitive Assessment	X
Measurement of confounders
	MMSE		X	X	X	X
	Anxiety depression			X		X
	Adult Reading Test			X
	Medication			X
	Delirium Rating Score					X
Presented test data		X		X	X
Definition of cognitive decline		The maximum score to get from this test is 30: >25= normal, 19–25=mild cognitive impairment, <19= serious cognitive impairment	Dichotomous: decrease in an MMSE score for three or more points from baseline value AND decrease of 1 SD or more in performance on CTT 1 and GP tests	Difference in group mean (p<0.05) in >3 of 6 domains	Postoperative MMSE impairment was defined as a decrease in scores by more than 20% of the preoperative values. Postoperative ASEM impairment was defined as a decrease of scores to more than 30% of preoperative values.	Cognitive decline was defined as a decline of 1 SD or more in performance on one or more of the neuropsychological tests.
Reported difference in cognitive function		X	X		X
Estimate of difference		Mild cognitive impairment: 7/43 NIRS, 16/36 control, p=0.01; severe cognitive impairment: 0/42 NIRS, 3/36 control, p=0.09	28% NIRS vs 52% control, p=0.0002	Significant difference in COWAT: mean difference 3.73 (95% CI 1.5 to 5.96), p=0.0011	ASEM at 3 months: mean 15.69 (SD 3.99); NIRS: mean 17.68 (SD 1.79), p<0.001	58% NIRS vs 61% control

ASEM, antisaccadic eye movements; COWAT, Controlled Oral Word Association Test; CTT, Colour Trail Test 1; GP, Grooved Pegboard Test; MMSE, Mini-Mental State Examination; NIRS, near-infrared spectroscopy; SCW, Stroop Colour and Word.