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Table 2 Neuropsychological test results, reliable change index and POCD incidence

From: Longitudinal assessment of preoperative dexamethasone administration on cognitive function after cardiac surgery: a 4-year follow‐up of a randomized controlled trial

Test

Baseline

p value

POD 6

p value

4-year follow-up

p value

Dexa

Placebo

Dexa

Placebo

Dexa

Placebo

Mini-Mental State Examination

28.1 ± 1.3

28.3 ± 1.1

0.182

28.0 ± 1.3

27.5 ± 1.4

0.046

27.2 ± 2.5

27.2 ± 2.3

0.945

RAVLT -Immediate recall

41.2 ± 8.9

42.2 ± 8.8

0.547

36.5 ± 8.9

37.2 ± 11.3

0.725

33.6 ± 9.2

33.8 ± 10.1

0.906

RAVLT - Delayed recall

7.6 ± 3.2

7.6 ± 3.1

0.922

7.2 ± 11.1

5.4 ± 3.2

0.249

6.5 ± 2.6

5.9 ± 3.0

0.225

Visual memory span

9.8 ± 3.6

9.7 ± 3.2

0.855

9.4 ± 3.6

9.3 ± 3.8

0.787

9.9 ± 3.1

10.3 ± 3.1

0.519

Digit span forward

7.0 ± 1.2

7.0 ± 1.2

0.894

7.0 ± 1.2

6.8 ± 1.2

0.580

6.7 ± 1.4

6.7 ± 1.4

0.820

Digit span backward

4.9 ± 1.5

5.1 ± 1.2

0.415

4.9 ± 1.7

4.8 ± 1.5

0.776

4.4 ± 1.7

4.4 ± 1.6

0.941

Symbol Digit Modalities Test

31.8 ± 11.8

33.2 ± 10.2

0.505

29.6 ± 11.4

28.5 ± 11.2

0.616

32.4 ± 11.8

32.2 ± 12.1

0.947

Simple reaction time

1300.0 ± 365.1

1278.8 ± 460.5

0.784

1347.1 ± 450.1

1444.3 ± 540.7

0.293

1576.9 ± 531.0

1840.8 ± 832.8

0.042

Reliable change index

   

0.564 ± 1.5

-0.075 ± 1.0

0.007

0.296 ± 0.8

-0.017 ± 1.0

0.075

POCD incidence

   

8 (14.8)

18 (29.0)

0.067

6 (11.1)

15 (24.2)

0.068

  1. Higher scores indicate better test performance except for simple reaction time, for which shorter time indicates better performance
  2. The reliable change index is the sum of the Z-scores for the different tests. A positive value suggests an improvement, whereas a negative value suggests a decline in overall cognitive performance
  3. POD 6, 6th postoperative day; Dexa, dexamethasone group; RAVLT, Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test; POCD, postoperative cognitive decline
  4. Data are presented as numbers (%) or means ± SD as appropriate