Review article Systematic review of appropriate cognitive assessment instruments used in clinical trials of schizophrenia, major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder Nadia Bakkour a , Jennifer Samp b , Kasem Akhras b , Emna El Hammi a , Imen Soussi a , Fatma Zahra a , Gérard Duru c , Amna Kooli a , Mondher Toumi c,n a Creativ-Ceutical, 500 Lake Cook Road #350, Deerfield, IL, USA b Takeda Pharmaceuticals International, One Takeda Parkway, Deerfield, IL, USA c University of Lyon, University Claude Bernard Lyon I, UFR d'Odontologie, 11 rue Guillaume Paradin, 69372 Lyon, Cedex 08, France article info Article history: Received 11 July 2013 Received in revised form 3 February 2014 Accepted 9 February 2014 Available online 3 March 2014 Keywords: Bipolar disorder Cognitive dysfunction Cognitive instrument Major depressive disorder Schizophrenia abstract Cognitive dysfunction is increasingly recognized as a symptom in mental conditions including schizophrenia, major depressive disorder (MDD), and bipolar disorder (BPD). Despite the many available cognitive assessment instruments, consensus is lacking on their appropriate use in clinical trials. We conducted a systematic literature review in Embase, PubMed/Medline and PsychINFO to identify appropriate cognitive function instruments for use in clinical trials of schizophrenia, MDD, and BPD. Instruments were identified from the articles. Instruments and articles were excluded if they did not address schizophrenia, MDD, or BPD. Instrument appropriateness was further assessed by the criteria of the Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (MATRICS) initiative: test–retest reliability, utility, relationship to functional status, potential changeability to pharmacological agents, and tolerability and practicality for clinical trials. The database search yielded 173 articles describing 150 instruments used to assess cognitive function. Seventeen additional instruments were identified through Google and clinicaltrials.gov. Among all these, only 30 (18%) were deemed appro- priate for use in the diseases of interest. Of these, 27 were studied in schizophrenia, one in MDD and two in BPD. These findings suggest the need for careful selection of appropriate cognitive assessment instruments, as not all may be valid in these disorders. & 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................ 292 2. Methods ........................................................................................................... 292 2.1. Search strategy for articles ...................................................................................... 292 2.2. Search strategy for instruments .................................................................................. 292 2.3. Identification of appropriate cognitive function instruments in schizophrenia, MDD and BPD................................. 292 2.3.1. Data collection and synthesis ............................................................................. 292 2.3.2. Frequency of use of instruments in clinical trials.............................................................. 293 3. Results ............................................................................................................ 293 3.1. Instrument identification through database search and overview of articles reviewed ....................................... 293 3.2. Review of appropriate cognitive function instruments in schizophrenia, MDD and BPD ..................................... 297 3.3. Cognitive domains measured by selected instruments in schizophrenia, MDD and BPD ..................................... 297 3.4. Frequency of instruments' use in clinical trials ...................................................................... 297 4. Discussion ......................................................................................................... 298 Conflict of interest: ...................................................................................................... 299 Funding support ........................................................................................................ 300 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/psychres Psychiatry Research http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2014.02.014 0165-1781 & 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. n Corresponding author. Tel.: þ33 4 78 77 10 52; fax: þ33 1 53 75 49 24. E-mail address: mondher.toumi@univ-lyon1.fr (M. Toumi). Psychiatry Research 216 (2014) 291–302