Supervised Digital Neuropsychological Tests for Cognitive Decline in Older Adults: Usability and Clinical Validity Study
BackgroundDementia is a major and growing health problem, and early diagnosis is key to its management. ObjectiveWith the ultimate goal of providing a monitoring tool that could be used to support the screening for cognitive decline, this study aims to develop a supervised, digitized ver...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
JMIR Publications
2020-09-01
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| Series: | JMIR mHealth and uHealth |
| Online Access: | http://mhealth.jmir.org/2020/9/e17963/ |
| _version_ | 1818566120236384256 |
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| author | Lunardini, Francesca Luperto, Matteo Romeo, Marta Basilico, Nicola Daniele, Katia Azzolino, Domenico Damanti, Sarah Abbate, Carlo Mari, Daniela Cesari, Matteo Borghese, Nunzio Alberto Ferrante, Simona |
| author_facet | Lunardini, Francesca Luperto, Matteo Romeo, Marta Basilico, Nicola Daniele, Katia Azzolino, Domenico Damanti, Sarah Abbate, Carlo Mari, Daniela Cesari, Matteo Borghese, Nunzio Alberto Ferrante, Simona |
| author_sort | Lunardini, Francesca |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundDementia is a major and growing health problem, and early diagnosis is key to its management.
ObjectiveWith the ultimate goal of providing a monitoring tool that could be used to support the screening for cognitive decline, this study aims to develop a supervised, digitized version of 2 neuropsychological tests: Trail Making Test and Bells Test. The system consists of a web app that implements a tablet-based version of the tests and consists of an innovative vocal assistant that acts as the virtual supervisor for the execution of the test. A replay functionality is added to allow inspection of the user’s performance after test completion.
MethodsTo deploy the system in a nonsupervised environment, extensive functional testing of the platform was conducted, together with a validation of the tablet-based tests. Such validation had the two-fold aim of evaluating system usability and acceptance and investigating the concurrent validity of computerized assessment compared with the corresponding paper-and-pencil counterparts.
ResultsThe results obtained from 83 older adults showed high system acceptance, despite the patients’ low familiarity with technology. The system software was successfully validated. A concurrent validation of the system reported good ability of the digitized tests to retain the same predictive power of the corresponding paper-based tests.
ConclusionsAltogether, the positive results pave the way for the deployment of the system to a nonsupervised environment, thus representing a potential efficacious and ecological solution to support clinicians in the identification of early signs of cognitive decline. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T01:49:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-da9b91b45f0d43cca8e477e991a4182c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2291-5222 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T01:49:40Z |
| publishDate | 2020-09-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | JMIR mHealth and uHealth |
| spelling | doaj.art-da9b91b45f0d43cca8e477e991a4182c2022-12-21T23:21:25ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR mHealth and uHealth2291-52222020-09-0189e1796310.2196/17963Supervised Digital Neuropsychological Tests for Cognitive Decline in Older Adults: Usability and Clinical Validity StudyLunardini, FrancescaLuperto, MatteoRomeo, MartaBasilico, NicolaDaniele, KatiaAzzolino, DomenicoDamanti, SarahAbbate, CarloMari, DanielaCesari, MatteoBorghese, Nunzio AlbertoFerrante, SimonaBackgroundDementia is a major and growing health problem, and early diagnosis is key to its management. ObjectiveWith the ultimate goal of providing a monitoring tool that could be used to support the screening for cognitive decline, this study aims to develop a supervised, digitized version of 2 neuropsychological tests: Trail Making Test and Bells Test. The system consists of a web app that implements a tablet-based version of the tests and consists of an innovative vocal assistant that acts as the virtual supervisor for the execution of the test. A replay functionality is added to allow inspection of the user’s performance after test completion. MethodsTo deploy the system in a nonsupervised environment, extensive functional testing of the platform was conducted, together with a validation of the tablet-based tests. Such validation had the two-fold aim of evaluating system usability and acceptance and investigating the concurrent validity of computerized assessment compared with the corresponding paper-and-pencil counterparts. ResultsThe results obtained from 83 older adults showed high system acceptance, despite the patients’ low familiarity with technology. The system software was successfully validated. A concurrent validation of the system reported good ability of the digitized tests to retain the same predictive power of the corresponding paper-based tests. ConclusionsAltogether, the positive results pave the way for the deployment of the system to a nonsupervised environment, thus representing a potential efficacious and ecological solution to support clinicians in the identification of early signs of cognitive decline.http://mhealth.jmir.org/2020/9/e17963/ |
| spellingShingle | Lunardini, Francesca Luperto, Matteo Romeo, Marta Basilico, Nicola Daniele, Katia Azzolino, Domenico Damanti, Sarah Abbate, Carlo Mari, Daniela Cesari, Matteo Borghese, Nunzio Alberto Ferrante, Simona Supervised Digital Neuropsychological Tests for Cognitive Decline in Older Adults: Usability and Clinical Validity Study JMIR mHealth and uHealth |
| title | Supervised Digital Neuropsychological Tests for Cognitive Decline in Older Adults: Usability and Clinical Validity Study |
| title_full | Supervised Digital Neuropsychological Tests for Cognitive Decline in Older Adults: Usability and Clinical Validity Study |
| title_fullStr | Supervised Digital Neuropsychological Tests for Cognitive Decline in Older Adults: Usability and Clinical Validity Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Supervised Digital Neuropsychological Tests for Cognitive Decline in Older Adults: Usability and Clinical Validity Study |
| title_short | Supervised Digital Neuropsychological Tests for Cognitive Decline in Older Adults: Usability and Clinical Validity Study |
| title_sort | supervised digital neuropsychological tests for cognitive decline in older adults usability and clinical validity study |
| url | http://mhealth.jmir.org/2020/9/e17963/ |
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