Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42246937›Full record

ReviewEpilepsia2026

Cognitive and behavioral clinical outcome assessments in children with developmental and epileptic encephalopathies: Issues and instruments.

Cinzia Correale, Nicola Specchio, Jenny Downs, J Helen Cross, Simona Cappelletti, Andrea Palacio-Navarro, Sam Geuens, Kette Valente, Andreas Brunklaus, Colin Reilly

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Epilepsia, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Cinzia CorrealeCenter for Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
Nicola SpecchioNeurology, Epilepsy and Movement Disorders, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, full member of European Reference Network EpiCARE, Rome, Italy.
Jenny DownsKids Research Institute Australia, Centre for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
J Helen CrossGreat Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7345-4829
Simona CappellettiNeurology, Epilepsy and Movement Disorders, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, full member of European Reference Network EpiCARE, Rome, Italy.
Andrea Palacio-NavarroEpilepsy Unit, Pediatric Neurology Service, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, full member of European Reference Network EpiCARE, Barcelona, Spain.
Sam GeuensLeuven Childhood Epilepsy Center, Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Kette ValenteHospital das Clínicas, Faculty of Medicine of the University of São Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5008-0809
Andreas BrunklausSchool of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7728-6903
Colin ReillyResearch Department, Young Epilepsy, Lingfield, Surrey, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5135-383X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Children with developmental and epileptic encephalopathies (DEEs) face cognitive and behavioral challenges that may have a greater impact than seizures on their quality of life (QoL). The need to assess these nonseizure outcomes for evaluating treatments is increasingly recognized. Advances in genomic technologies have transformed the diagnostic landscape of rare genetic epilepsies, including DEEs, opening new opportunities for precision medicine. There is also growing interest in drug repurposing, identifying well-tolerated medications for other indications for use in DEEs. Innovative trial designs and the systematic collection of prospective natural history data are essential, given the rarity and heterogeneity of DEEs. The selection of reliable, valid, and meaningful outcome measures of cognition and behavior is crucial for clinical trials and natural history studies. Commonly used tools for assessing cognition and adaptive behavior often exhibit floor effects and may fail to capture subtle, yet clinically significant, changes in functioning that are meaningful for children and their families. There is thus a need to explore a fuller range of clinical outcome assessments (COAs) and scoring methods that could be sensitive to change and suitable for use in rare disease populations. Assessing behavioral and emotional outcomes in children with DEEs is additionally challenging, as many assessment instruments have been developed and validated for use in children without intellectual disability. To fully realize the potential of precision medicine in the DEEs, a robust framework for outcomes assessment is required, one that incorporates sensitive, reliable, and meaningful COAs tailored to this population. Coordinated efforts to identify and adapt existing measures or develop new outcome tools will be crucial for advancing therapeutic strategies that genuinely improve QoL for children with DEEs. This article summarizes the issues faced when selecting outcome measures for DEE trials and reviews commonly used instruments for assessing cognition and behavior in children with DEEs.

Indexed as

CognitionEpilepsyOutcome Assessment, Health CareChildHumansQuality of Lifeclinical outcome assessmentclinical trial readinessdevelopmentalnatural history

Identifiers

PMID42246937
PMCPMC13525577

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.