The Brief Executive Language Screen
Post stroke, patients can experience a range of cognitive i.e., “thinking” problems, ranging from mild to severe. When people have obvious and severe difficulties (e.g., unable to talk or walk), they receive timely rehabilitation. However, current cognitive screens are not sensitive to more complex, less obvious impairments, meaning patients without global or obvious deficits often go undetected and therefore do not receive timely rehabilitation to aid recovery of functions. The Brief Executive Language Screen (BELS) is designed to detect problems with complex mental abilities (executive functions) and conversational speech (also known as propositional language), in addition to core language skills, memory, and motor speech. It is brief (15-20 minutes) and suitable for bedside administration. The BELS-Extended (BELS-E; 25-30 minutes) incorporates additional memory and core language subtests. A standalone, 5-minute verbal executive function screen is also available (BELS Sentence Completion; BELS-SC), and assesses initiation, selection, inhibition, and strategy.
BELS
BELS Standard Version Scoresheet
BELS-E
BELS Extended Version Scoresheet
BELS-SC
BELS-SC Executive Functon Subtest
BELS Literature
BELS Construct Validation in acute stroke (Robinson et al., 2021)
BELS Sensitivity and specificity in acute stroke (Phillips et al., 2024)