# Promoting cognitive screening and assessment post-aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR HOUSTON · 2024 · $251,676

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) is a form of stroke that strikes relatively young, working-age
individuals (typically 30-60 years old; mean age ~50 years old). Cognitive symptoms post-aSAH impair quality
of life (QoL). Notably in our preliminary data, cognitive symptoms have gone undiagnosed in ~67% of
survivors, as these symptoms are not captured by typical outpatient clinical neurological exams or commonly
used general mental status screening modalities. Furthermore, the gold standard of measuring post-aSAH
cognitive impairments with neuropsychological testing is frequently unavailable or neglected, and there are no
existing guidelines regarding when to trigger such referral. But if these changes are accurately detected and
patients are referred, cognitive interventions have shown success in improving outcomes in this population. In
short, inadequate detection and phenotyping of cognitive symptoms by clinical neurological exam and/or
general mental status screening, in conjunction with non-existent guidelines for in-depth assessment, places
patients at risk for cognitively driven poor outcomes and reduced QoL, an outcome that is amenable to
intervention. The novel central hypothesis of this proposal is that the Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders
(Neuro-QoL), a patient-reported outcome (PRO) battery of questionnaires, can fill this gap in screening for
clinical decision-making. Our strong preliminary data demonstrate that the cognitive short form within the
Neuro-QoL (NQ-CSF) provides a simple yet critically needed screening tool for use in aSAH survivors;
however, this instrument has not yet been tested a) as a benchmark to trigger individual patient referral for in-
depth neuropsychological assessment; b) for interpretation in relation to other relevant demographic and
clinical information; or c) for interpretation in relation to other Neuro-QoL measures. We respond here to PA-
19-053 and NOT-OD-20-079, and the spirit of PAR-22-231, to propose one highly focused aim: Determine the
utility of the Neuro-QoL cognition short form (NQ-CSF) as a benchmark to trigger individual patient
referral for in-depth clinical neuropsychological assessment. This project is innovative for applying the
Neuro-QoL for clinically meaningful cognitive symptom screening and individualized patient referral post-aSAH.
The work will have a significant impact by informing new practice guidelines to provide earlier and more
accurate assessment of cognitive symptomatology. Lack of such knowledge reduces QoL for patients affected
by aSAH.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11468520
- **Project number:** 7R21NR021052-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR HOUSTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Ansley Grimes Stanfill
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $251,676
- **Award type:** 7
- **Project period:** 2024-06-11 → 2027-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11468520

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11468520, Promoting cognitive screening and assessment post-aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (7R21NR021052-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11468520. Licensed CC0.

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