Digital cognitive assessments for Brain Injury– a Systematic Review

Abstract

Objectives: Cognitive impairments due to brain injury (BI) are substantial sources of morbidity for affected individuals, their family members, and society. Digital assessments may enhance the efficiency of evaluations in neurology and other clinics. This paper aims to examine the role of digital cognitive assessments for patients with brain injury. Digital neuropsychological assessments for BI patients have long been encouraged to increase their use of experimental designs. However, solid support for such advocacy is lacking, and the present paper fills in this research gap. Method: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. This work was pre-registered on the Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO; CRD42023388370). By using a systematic approach, studies between January 2012 and November 2022 that included Digital cognitive assessments for BI patients were included. This study conducts content analysis based on certain criteria including journal outlets, years of publication, contexts, experimental designs, settings, number of independent variables, research subjects, sample size, subjects per experimental condition, statistical analyses, and provision of effect size. Results: Twenty-six studies were included from an initial N=99 (2 database search) Findings showed that the number of experimental publications has significantly increased over the past decade, especially in digital cognitive publications. Nonetheless, there is still room for improvement in applying the experimental design in using digitalized cognitive assessments for BI patients Conclusion: Digital neuropsychology provides new approaches for measuring and monitoring neuropsychological functioning, informed by an understanding of the limitations and potential of digital technology