ABSTRACT

Understanding how pediatric neuropsychological evaluations support families and the child’s medical team is an important component of ensuring evidence-based care. For the first time within a Canadian context, we investigated the impact of neuropsychological assessments on parent knowledge, advocacy, and stress and the role of socioeconomic factors in parents’ perceptions of the assessment. Responses from referring clinicians were also examined. As part of a hospital quality improvement project, 91 parents of children between the ages of 3 and 17 years (M = 8y7m; SD = 4y1m) and 45 clinician consumers (clinical staff who use neuropsychological services) completed one of two online questionnaires in English: Parent Overall Assessment of Supports and Testing, or Clinician Overall Assessment of Supports and Testing. Most parents indicated the neuropsychological evaluation promoted understanding of their child’s cognitive profile and improved their ability to support their child at home and at school or in the community. Families characterized as being at higher social risk indicated that the evaluation led to more changes in how they approached their child at home than families with lower social risk status. Referring clinicians indicated neuropsychological reports were effective in communicating findings to them and patients/families. The most valuable sections of the report according to referring clinicians included the diagnosis/impression and recommendations sections. Parents and referral providers reported many benefits from the neuropsychological evaluation but also identified areas for service delivery improvement. Parent perceptions varied based on family and socio environmental factors, offering important targets for future research and clinical consideration.

摘要

了解儿科神经心理学评估如何支持家庭和儿童医疗团队是确保循证护理的重要组成部分。我们首次在加拿大背景下调查了神经心理学评估对父母知识、倡导和压力的影响，以及社会经济因素在父母对评估的看法中的作用。还检查了转诊临床医生的反应。作为医院质量改进项目的一部分，91 名 3 至 17 岁儿童的父母（M= 8y7m; SD = 4y1m) 和 45 名临床医生消费者（使用神经心理学服务的临床工作人员）完成了两份英语在线问卷之一：父母对支持和测试的总体评估，或临床医生对支持和测试的总体评估。大多数家长表示，神经心理学评估促进了对孩子认知状况的理解，并提高了他们在家、在学校或社区支持孩子的能力。社会风险较高的家庭表示，与社会风险较低的家庭相比，评估导致他们在家中接近孩子的方式发生了更多变化。转诊临床医生表示神经心理学报告在向他们和患者/家属传达调查结果方面是有效的。根据推荐的临床医生，报告中最有价值的部分包括诊断/印象和建议部分。家长和转诊提供者报告了神经心理学评估的许多好处，但也确定了服务提供改进的领域。父母的看法因家庭和社会环境因素而异，为未来的研究和临床考虑提供了重要的目标。