Multiple Sclerosis, Executive Function and Employment
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Assessment of Executive Function in Multiple Sclerosis using a virtual reality office based task and its relationship to employment performance.
IRAS ID
224744
Contact name
Laura Clemens
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Royal Holloway, University of London
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 10 months, 11 days
Research summary
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a long-term, degenerative disease caused by structural changes to cells in the brain and spinal cord. In addition to physical impairments, MS can lead to difficulties related to complex intellectual abilities such as decision making, planning and switching between tasks. These abilities are collectively known as “executive function”. Problems in executive function have been linked to unemployment in MS as well as the use of unhelpful coping strategies, which in turn affect employment performance. Assessing these abilities is important for the creation of effective treatment and management plans. Many of the traditional, pen and paper neuropsychological tests involve tasks which test executive function but are unrepresentative of real world tasks. For example, asking people to read the names of colours printed in the same, or a different colour to their name. A person therefore can score well on these traditional, pen and paper neuropsychological tests but still struggle with tasks requiring executive function in real life.
The Jansari assessment of Executive Function (JEF©) is a computer based test set in a virtual office environment which requires the participant to complete everyday tasks. For example, organising events or everyday objects in a logical manner. The JEF© has been shown to be sensitive to deficits in executive function in patient groups which report difficulties undetected by traditional, pen-and-paper neuropsychological tests. It is also portable and more engaging than traditional, pen-and paper neuropsychological tests.
This study would ascertain three things: whether the JEF© is sensitive to executive function deficits in the MS population, whether the JEF© is more closely related to work place performance in comparison to traditional pen-and-paper neuropsychological tests, and whether the JEF© scores are related to coping styles.REC name
London - Queen Square Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/0265
Date of REC Opinion
27 Feb 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion