Tele-neuropsychological Assessment of Children and Young People: A Systematic Review

Elise J Walker; Fenella J Kirkham; Hanne Stotesbury; Dagmara Dimitriou; Anna M Hood

doi:10.1007/s40817-023-00144-6

Tele-neuropsychological Assessment of Children and Young People: A Systematic Review

J Pediatr Neuropsychol. 2023 May 31:1-14. doi: 10.1007/s40817-023-00144-6. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Elise J Walker¹, Fenella J Kirkham^{1

2}, Hanne Stotesbury¹, Dagmara Dimitriou³, Anna M Hood⁴

Affiliations

¹ Developmental Neurosciences Unit and Biomedical Research Centre, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, England.
² Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, England.
³ Sleep Education and Research Laboratory, Department of Psychology and Human Development, UCL Institute of Education, London, England.
⁴ Manchester Centre for Health Psychology, Division of Psychology and Mental Health, University of Manchester, Coupland 1 Building, Manchester, M15 6FH Manchester, England.

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic identified a clinical need for pediatric tele-neuropsychology (TeleNP) assessment. However, due to limited research, clinicians have had little information to develop, adapt, or select reliable pediatric assessments for TeleNP. This preliminary systematic review aimed to examine the feasibility of pediatric TeleNP assessment alongside (1) patient/family acceptability, (2) reliability, and (3) the quality of the literature. Between May 2021 and November 2022, manual searches of PubMed, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar were conducted using terms related to "pediatric" and "tele-neuropsychology." After extracting relevant papers with samples aged 0-22 years, predefined exclusion criteria were applied. Quality assessment was completed using the AXIS appraisal tool (91% rater-agreement). Twenty-one studies were included in the review, with reported qualitative and quantitative data on the feasibility, reliability, and acceptability extracted. Across included studies, TeleNP was completed via telephone/video conference with participants either at home, in a local setting accompanied by an assistant, or in a different room but in the same building as the assessor. Pediatric TeleNP was generally reported to be feasible (e.g., minimal behavioral differences) and acceptable (e.g., positive feedback). Nineteen studies conducted some statistical analyses to assess reliability. Most observed no significant difference between in-person and TeleNP for most cognitive domains (i.e., IQ), with a minority finding variable reliability for some tests (e.g., attention, speech, visuo-spatial). Limited reporting of sex-assigned birth, racialized identity, and ethnicity reduced the quality and generalizability of the literature. To aid clinical interpretations, studies should assess underexamined cognitive domains (e.g., processing speed) with larger, more inclusive samples.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40817-023-00144-6.

Keywords: Cognition; Pediatric; Remote assessment; Tele-neuropsychology; Testing.

Publication types

Review