Design process and preliminary psychometric study of a video game to detect cognitive impairment in senior adults
Introduction Assessment of episodic memory has been traditionally used to evaluate potential cognitive impairments in senior adults. Typically, episodic memory evaluation is based on personal interviews and pen-and-paper tests. This article presents the design, development and a preliminary validati...
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| Format: | Article |
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PeerJ Inc.
2017-06-01
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/3508.pdf |
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| author | Sonia Valladares-Rodriguez Roberto Perez-Rodriguez David Facal Manuel J. Fernandez-Iglesias Luis Anido-Rifon Marcos Mouriño-Garcia |
| author_facet | Sonia Valladares-Rodriguez Roberto Perez-Rodriguez David Facal Manuel J. Fernandez-Iglesias Luis Anido-Rifon Marcos Mouriño-Garcia |
| author_sort | Sonia Valladares-Rodriguez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction Assessment of episodic memory has been traditionally used to evaluate potential cognitive impairments in senior adults. Typically, episodic memory evaluation is based on personal interviews and pen-and-paper tests. This article presents the design, development and a preliminary validation of a novel digital game to assess episodic memory intended to overcome the limitations of traditional methods, such as the cost of its administration, its intrusive character, the lack of early detection capabilities, the lack of ecological validity, the learning effect and the existence of confounding factors. Materials and Methods Our proposal is based on the gamification of the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) and it has been designed to comply with the psychometric characteristics of reliability and validity. Two qualitative focus groups and a first pilot experiment were carried out to validate the proposal. Results A more ecological, non-intrusive and better administrable tool to perform cognitive assessment was developed. Initial evidence from the focus groups and pilot experiment confirmed the developed game’s usability and offered promising results insofar its psychometric validity is concerned. Moreover, the potential of this game for the cognitive classification of senior adults was confirmed, and administration time is dramatically reduced with respect to pen-and-paper tests. Limitations Additional research is needed to improve the resolution of the game for the identification of specific cognitive impairments, as well as to achieve a complete validation of the psychometric properties of the digital game. Conclusion Initial evidence show that serious games can be used as an instrument to assess the cognitive status of senior adults, and even to predict the onset of mild cognitive impairments or Alzheimer’s disease. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:26:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0fa93ee0437d438486f986c254759830 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:26:34Z |
| publishDate | 2017-06-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-0fa93ee0437d438486f986c2547598302023-12-03T11:19:27ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592017-06-015e350810.7717/peerj.3508Design process and preliminary psychometric study of a video game to detect cognitive impairment in senior adultsSonia Valladares-Rodriguez0Roberto Perez-Rodriguez1David Facal2Manuel J. Fernandez-Iglesias3Luis Anido-Rifon4Marcos Mouriño-Garcia5School of Telecommunication Engineering, University of Vigo, Vigo, SpainSchool of Telecommunication Engineering, University of Vigo, Vigo, SpainDepartment of Developmental Psychology, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, SpainSchool of Telecommunication Engineering, University of Vigo, Vigo, SpainSchool of Telecommunication Engineering, University of Vigo, Vigo, SpainSchool of Telecommunication Engineering, University of Vigo, Vigo, SpainIntroduction Assessment of episodic memory has been traditionally used to evaluate potential cognitive impairments in senior adults. Typically, episodic memory evaluation is based on personal interviews and pen-and-paper tests. This article presents the design, development and a preliminary validation of a novel digital game to assess episodic memory intended to overcome the limitations of traditional methods, such as the cost of its administration, its intrusive character, the lack of early detection capabilities, the lack of ecological validity, the learning effect and the existence of confounding factors. Materials and Methods Our proposal is based on the gamification of the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) and it has been designed to comply with the psychometric characteristics of reliability and validity. Two qualitative focus groups and a first pilot experiment were carried out to validate the proposal. Results A more ecological, non-intrusive and better administrable tool to perform cognitive assessment was developed. Initial evidence from the focus groups and pilot experiment confirmed the developed game’s usability and offered promising results insofar its psychometric validity is concerned. Moreover, the potential of this game for the cognitive classification of senior adults was confirmed, and administration time is dramatically reduced with respect to pen-and-paper tests. Limitations Additional research is needed to improve the resolution of the game for the identification of specific cognitive impairments, as well as to achieve a complete validation of the psychometric properties of the digital game. Conclusion Initial evidence show that serious games can be used as an instrument to assess the cognitive status of senior adults, and even to predict the onset of mild cognitive impairments or Alzheimer’s disease.https://peerj.com/articles/3508.pdfDigital gameEpisodic memory assessmentEarly detection of alzheimer and mild cognitive impairmentEcological neuropsychological evaluationValidityPsychometric properties |
| spellingShingle | Sonia Valladares-Rodriguez Roberto Perez-Rodriguez David Facal Manuel J. Fernandez-Iglesias Luis Anido-Rifon Marcos Mouriño-Garcia Design process and preliminary psychometric study of a video game to detect cognitive impairment in senior adults PeerJ Digital game Episodic memory assessment Early detection of alzheimer and mild cognitive impairment Ecological neuropsychological evaluation Validity Psychometric properties |
| title | Design process and preliminary psychometric study of a video game to detect cognitive impairment in senior adults |
| title_full | Design process and preliminary psychometric study of a video game to detect cognitive impairment in senior adults |
| title_fullStr | Design process and preliminary psychometric study of a video game to detect cognitive impairment in senior adults |
| title_full_unstemmed | Design process and preliminary psychometric study of a video game to detect cognitive impairment in senior adults |
| title_short | Design process and preliminary psychometric study of a video game to detect cognitive impairment in senior adults |
| title_sort | design process and preliminary psychometric study of a video game to detect cognitive impairment in senior adults |
| topic | Digital game Episodic memory assessment Early detection of alzheimer and mild cognitive impairment Ecological neuropsychological evaluation Validity Psychometric properties |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/3508.pdf |
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