The Behavioural Test Battery

Now that instruments for the study have been created and installed (if it is not the case, see Instruments Introduction section), the next step towards data entry into LORIS is to configure the test battery.

The Test Battery is the theoretical set of questionnaires administered to a participant at a specific timepoint. The reason we refer to it as "theoretical" in this context is because some exceptions occur in a clinical environment and LORIS does allow for these exception by offering the option to add instruments to the predetermined battery at any timepoint (See FAQ below). The battery assignment is dependent on several variables such as age of the candidate, cohort, site and project affiliations.

The Battery Manager module, found under the Tools menu, allows users to define, edit and delete clinical battery entries. The help section of the module explains what each variable's effect is on the instrument assignment and how it interacts with other variables in the same entry.

Once a test battery is defined, it will be cross-matched against each newly created timepoint for each participant. When the timepoint's data (age of participant, site, ...) matches a specific battery, the predefined set of instruments in the battery gets assigned to the participant and the questionnaires are then displayed on the timepoint page in the browser.

What happens if the battery changes over time?

It is common in a clinical setting for behavioural test batteries to change. In LORIS, once a battery is assigned to a participant at a specific timepoint, it is dissociated from the "theoretical" battery definition that appears in the battery manager. In other words, once a set of questionnaires is linked to a participant at a timepoint, it is no longer altered in any way by a change of the test battery.

What if we want to retrospectively add new instruments to old timepoints?

Given that this is also a possibility, LORIS offers a tool tools/assign_missing_instruments.php which can be run by an administrator to allow a recomputation of the differences between all existing batteries and all theoretical batteries. Upon finding timepoints with missing instruments, this tool offers the option to add said instruments to the timepoint.

For more information about this tool visit assign_missing_instruments.php

What happens if an additional questionnaire was administered during the visit?

As this use case is also common, LORIS offers a PHP tool which allows for the addition of a single instrument to an existing participant's timepoints. The tools/fix_timepoint_date_problems.php plays many roles amongst which is the addition of tests at a timepoint level.

For more information about this tool visit fix_timepoint_date_problems.php

Summary

When a battery is assigned to candidate at a specific timepoint, the battery is linked to the timepoint and is no longer subject to change when the theoretical battery is altered from the Battery Manager module. If needed, a change to the theoretical battery can be applied to all existing batteries by using the assign_missing_instruments.php tool. Similarly, if the intent is to add an instrument to a single battery without altering the theoretical battery, an instrument can be added to the specified timepoint using the fix_timepoint_date_problems.php.