Event-Based Prospective Memory in Children with Sickle Cell Disease: Effect of Cue Distinctiveness

Abstract

Event-based prospective memory (EB-PM) is the formation of an intention and remembering to perform it in response to a specific event. Currently, EB-PM performance in children with sickle cell disease (SCD) is unknown. In this study, we designed a computer-based task of EB-PM; No-Stroke, Silent-Infarct, and Overt-Stroke groups performed significantly below the demographically similar control group without SCD. Cue distinctiveness was varied to determine if EB-PM could be improved. All groups, with the exception of the Overt-Stroke group, performed significantly better with a perceptually distinctive cue. Overall, these results suggest that EB-PM can be improved significantly in many children with SCD.

Keywords:

• Event-based prospective memory
• Sickle cell disease
• Cue distinctiveness
• Memory rehabilitation

This work was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute grant HL084442 “Self-Management of Sickle Cell Disease,” awarded to Stephen R. McCauley. The information in this manuscript and the manuscript itself has never been published either electronically or in print. None of the authors have any financial or other relationship(s) that could be construed as a conflict of interest with respect to the content of this manuscript. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Many thanks go to Monica Vann, MA, for her significant contributions in recruiting and assessing a portion of the participants for this study and for her helpful suggestions toward improving the prospective memory task instructions.