Boston cognitive assessment (BOCA) — a comprehensive self-administered smartphone- and computer-based at-home test for longitudinal tracking of cognitive performance
Abstract Longitudinal cognitive testing is essential for developing novel preventive interventions for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease; however, the few available tools have significant practice effect and depend on an external evaluator. We developed a self-administered 10-min at-home test intende...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMC
2022-03-01
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| Series: | BMC Neurology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12883-022-02620-6 |
| _version_ | 1818306447619915776 |
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| author | Andrey Vyshedskiy Rebecca Netson Elisabeth Fridberg Priyanka Jagadeesan Matthew Arnold Sophie Barnett Anjali Gondalia Victoria Maslova Lauren de Torres Simone Ostrovsky Danijel Durakovic Andrei Savchenko Sienna McNett Mikhail Kogan Irene Piryatinsky Dov Gold |
| author_facet | Andrey Vyshedskiy Rebecca Netson Elisabeth Fridberg Priyanka Jagadeesan Matthew Arnold Sophie Barnett Anjali Gondalia Victoria Maslova Lauren de Torres Simone Ostrovsky Danijel Durakovic Andrei Savchenko Sienna McNett Mikhail Kogan Irene Piryatinsky Dov Gold |
| author_sort | Andrey Vyshedskiy |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Longitudinal cognitive testing is essential for developing novel preventive interventions for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease; however, the few available tools have significant practice effect and depend on an external evaluator. We developed a self-administered 10-min at-home test intended for longitudinal cognitive monitoring, Boston Cognitive Assessment or BOCA. The goal of this project was to validate BOCA. BOCA uses randomly selected non-repeating tasks to minimize practice effects. BOCA evaluates eight cognitive domains: 1) Memory/Immediate Recall, 2) Combinatorial Language Comprehension/Prefrontal Synthesis, 3) Visuospatial Reasoning/Mental rotation, 4) Executive function/Clock Test, 5) Attention, 6) Mental math, 7) Orientation, and 8) Memory/Delayed Recall. BOCA was administered to patients with cognitive impairment (n = 50) and age- and education-matched controls (n = 50). Test scores were significantly different between patients and controls (p < 0.001) suggesting good discriminative ability. The Cronbach’s alpha was 0.87 implying good internal consistency. BOCA demonstrated strong correlation with Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) (R = 0.90, p < 0.001). The study revealed strong (R = 0.94, p < 0.001) test-retest reliability of the total BOCA score one week after participants’ initial administration. The practice effect tested by daily BOCA administration over 10 days was insignificant (β = 0.03, p = 0.68). The effect of the screen size tested by BOCA administration on a large computer screen and re-administration of the BOCA to the same participant on a smartphone was insignificant (β = 0.82, p = 0.17; positive β indicates greater score on a smartphone). BOCA has the potential to reduce the cost and improve the quality of longitudinal cognitive tracking essential for testing novel interventions designed to reduce or reverse cognitive aging. BOCA is available online gratis at www.bocatest.org . |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T06:42:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8b06d021fc3a4593b193b67d4674f486 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2377 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T06:42:38Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Neurology |
| spelling | doaj.art-8b06d021fc3a4593b193b67d4674f4862022-12-21T23:56:23ZengBMCBMC Neurology1471-23772022-03-0122111210.1186/s12883-022-02620-6Boston cognitive assessment (BOCA) — a comprehensive self-administered smartphone- and computer-based at-home test for longitudinal tracking of cognitive performanceAndrey Vyshedskiy0Rebecca Netson1Elisabeth Fridberg2Priyanka Jagadeesan3Matthew Arnold4Sophie Barnett5Anjali Gondalia6Victoria Maslova7Lauren de Torres8Simone Ostrovsky9Danijel Durakovic10Andrei Savchenko11Sienna McNett12Mikhail Kogan13Irene Piryatinsky14Dov Gold15Boston UniversityAlzheimer’s LightBoston UniversityBoston UniversityBoston UniversityAlzheimer’s LightBoston UniversityAlzheimer’s LightAlzheimer’s LightAlzheimer’s LightAlzheimer’s LightAlzheimer’s LightCenter for Integrative Medicine, George Washington UniversityCenter for Integrative Medicine, George Washington UniversityNeuropsychological Assessment ClinicDepartment of Clinical Psychology, William James CollegeAbstract Longitudinal cognitive testing is essential for developing novel preventive interventions for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease; however, the few available tools have significant practice effect and depend on an external evaluator. We developed a self-administered 10-min at-home test intended for longitudinal cognitive monitoring, Boston Cognitive Assessment or BOCA. The goal of this project was to validate BOCA. BOCA uses randomly selected non-repeating tasks to minimize practice effects. BOCA evaluates eight cognitive domains: 1) Memory/Immediate Recall, 2) Combinatorial Language Comprehension/Prefrontal Synthesis, 3) Visuospatial Reasoning/Mental rotation, 4) Executive function/Clock Test, 5) Attention, 6) Mental math, 7) Orientation, and 8) Memory/Delayed Recall. BOCA was administered to patients with cognitive impairment (n = 50) and age- and education-matched controls (n = 50). Test scores were significantly different between patients and controls (p < 0.001) suggesting good discriminative ability. The Cronbach’s alpha was 0.87 implying good internal consistency. BOCA demonstrated strong correlation with Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) (R = 0.90, p < 0.001). The study revealed strong (R = 0.94, p < 0.001) test-retest reliability of the total BOCA score one week after participants’ initial administration. The practice effect tested by daily BOCA administration over 10 days was insignificant (β = 0.03, p = 0.68). The effect of the screen size tested by BOCA administration on a large computer screen and re-administration of the BOCA to the same participant on a smartphone was insignificant (β = 0.82, p = 0.17; positive β indicates greater score on a smartphone). BOCA has the potential to reduce the cost and improve the quality of longitudinal cognitive tracking essential for testing novel interventions designed to reduce or reverse cognitive aging. BOCA is available online gratis at www.bocatest.org .https://doi.org/10.1186/s12883-022-02620-6Cognitive testingMild cognitive impairmentDementiaCognitionTelehealth |
| spellingShingle | Andrey Vyshedskiy Rebecca Netson Elisabeth Fridberg Priyanka Jagadeesan Matthew Arnold Sophie Barnett Anjali Gondalia Victoria Maslova Lauren de Torres Simone Ostrovsky Danijel Durakovic Andrei Savchenko Sienna McNett Mikhail Kogan Irene Piryatinsky Dov Gold Boston cognitive assessment (BOCA) — a comprehensive self-administered smartphone- and computer-based at-home test for longitudinal tracking of cognitive performance BMC Neurology Cognitive testing Mild cognitive impairment Dementia Cognition Telehealth |
| title | Boston cognitive assessment (BOCA) — a comprehensive self-administered smartphone- and computer-based at-home test for longitudinal tracking of cognitive performance |
| title_full | Boston cognitive assessment (BOCA) — a comprehensive self-administered smartphone- and computer-based at-home test for longitudinal tracking of cognitive performance |
| title_fullStr | Boston cognitive assessment (BOCA) — a comprehensive self-administered smartphone- and computer-based at-home test for longitudinal tracking of cognitive performance |
| title_full_unstemmed | Boston cognitive assessment (BOCA) — a comprehensive self-administered smartphone- and computer-based at-home test for longitudinal tracking of cognitive performance |
| title_short | Boston cognitive assessment (BOCA) — a comprehensive self-administered smartphone- and computer-based at-home test for longitudinal tracking of cognitive performance |
| title_sort | boston cognitive assessment boca a comprehensive self administered smartphone and computer based at home test for longitudinal tracking of cognitive performance |
| topic | Cognitive testing Mild cognitive impairment Dementia Cognition Telehealth |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12883-022-02620-6 |
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