Aucun examen standardisé d'évaluation cognitive destiné aux patients souffrant d'une sclérose en plaques (SEP) n'existe en langue française. L'objectif était de construire et de valider une batterie francophone inspirée de la « Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological tests for Multiple Sclerosis » (BRB-N). Pour cela, quatre épreuves courtes évaluant la mémoire à court terme et les fonctions exécutives ont été ajoutées aux versions françaises de la BRB-N, et la contribution de chaque épreuve a été évaluée par analyse en composante principale (ACP). L'influence des principales variables démographiques a ensuite été évaluée par analyses de variance. Enfin, la performance de deux catégories de patients (score EDSS <= 3 et > 3) a été comparée à celle des témoins. L'ACP montre que toutes les épreuves sauf une évaluent des dimensions cognitives indépendantes. La batterie définitive (BCcogSEP) se compose donc de 8 tests. Les analyses de variance montrent des effets significatifs de l'âge, de la durée de scolarisation et du sexe. Des troubles cognitifs sont décelés même dans les formes peu évoluées de SEP. En conclusion, cette batterie aux qualités psychométriques satisfaisantes permet d'interpréter les performances d'un patient compte tenu de ses caractéristiques démographiques et de déceler la présence d'anomalies cognitives même en cas de maladie peu invalidante.

In French language, there is no standardized procedure to assess cognitive function in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Such an assessment is however very useful to determine the consequences of the disease on cognitive function, to evaluate the disease progression and the consequences of usual treatments on cognition. This study aimed to develop and validate a French language battery based on " the Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological tests for Multiple Sclerosis " (BRB-N) often used in other countries. In an initial phase, the battery was composed of the French version of the 5 BRB-N tests to which were added 4 tests assessing immediate and working memory as well as executive function. 52 healthy control subjects (20-50 years) participated in the study. A principal component analysis (PCA) of their data examined the contribution of each test into the battery. 93 other healthy subjects participated in a second phase where analyses of variance were carried out to investigate the effect of the main demographical variables. Finally, the performance of two patient groups (20 with a EDSS score <=3 et 31 with a EDSS score >3) was compared to the healthy controls in order to investigate the ability of our battery to detect cognitive impairment in MS patients. The PCA showed that each test, except one, had a specific contribution to the battery. The final battery (BCcogSEP) was thus comprised of 8 tests. MANOVA and ANOVA showed significant effects of age, sex and educational level on performance. In consequence, a procedure allowing to take into account these factors was developed. The battery was able to detect cognitive impairment in MS patients, even when the disease is not severe. In this case, deficits were observed in tests assessing executive function, information processing speed, immediate and working memory. This short battery with reliable psychometric qualities allows the interpretation of a MS patient's performance considering his/her demographical characteristics and is able to detect cognitive abnormalities even in case of mild physical handicap.