Mobile Technology for Cognitive Assessment of Older Adults: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Background and ObjectivesThe number of people diagnosed with dementia is rising appreciably as the population ages. In an effort to improve outcomes, many have called for facilitating early detection of cognitive decline. Increased use of mobile technology by older adults provides the opportunity to deliver convenient, cost-effective assessments for earlier detection of cognitive impairment. This article presents a review of the literature on how mobile platforms—smartphones and tablets—are being used for cognitive assessment of older adults along with benefits and opportunities associated with using mobile platforms for cognitive assessment.Research Design and MethodsWe searched MEDLINE, Web of Science, PsycInfo, CINAHL, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials in October 2018. This search returned 7,024 articles. After removing 1,464 duplicates, we screened titles and abstracts then screened full-text for those articles meeting inclusion and exclusion criteria.ResultsTwenty-nine articles met our inclusion criteria and were categorized into 3 groups as follows: (a) mobile versions of existing article or computerized neuropsychological tests; (b) new cognitive tests developed specifically for mobile platforms; and (c) the use of new types of data for cognitive assessment. This scoping review confirms the considerable potential of mobile assessment.Discussion and ImplicationsMobile technologies facilitate repeated and continuous assessment and support unobtrusive collection of auxiliary behavioral markers of cognitive impairment, thus allowing users to view trends and detect acute changes that have traditionally been difficult to identify. Opportunities include using new mobile sensors and wearable devices, improving reliability and validity of mobile assessments, determining appropriate clinical use of mobile assessment information, and incorporating person-centered assessment principles and digital phenotyping.

Development and Evaluation of Maze-Like Puzzle Games to Assess Cognitive and Motor Function in Aging and Neurodegenerative Diseases

“…These findings confirm recent suggestions that video games incorporate elements and cognitive challenges shared with psychological tasks (Holmgard et al, 2016). Furthermore, results indicate that game-based measures of cognitive and motor performance can be used to assess and monitor cognitive function in normal aging and neurodegenerative diseases (Koo and Vizer, 2019;Mandryk and Birk, 2019). Significant correlations between NL-based time and movement performance with tests of psychomotor, attentional, visuoconstructional, and executive functions support our assumption that NL puzzles share cognitive components with classical maze tasks (Snellgrove, 2005;Kirsch et al, 2006).…”

“…A novel approach to address these issues is the use of video games to study age and neurodegenerative diseaserelated differences in cognitive function (Boot, 2015;Koo and Vizer, 2019). Video games involve solving cognitive challenges that require a range of cognitive abilities and often share properties with psychological tests (Holmgard et al, 2016).…”

Heterogeneous Indicators of Cognitive Performance and Performance Variability Across the Lifespan

“…Additionally, our pattern of mean RT across the lifespan, which peaks in the early 20s, replicates gold standard longitudinal work (e.g., Deary and Der, 2005), as we have previously shown that lifespan patterns of change in processing speed replicate work from these gold standard studies (Hartshorne and Germine, 2015). Given the utility and ease of web-based cognitive tests [see Koo and Vizer (2019) for a recent review], an approach that integrates multiple metrics may be useful for clinicians and researchers to study cognitive performance and performance variation at many stages across the lifespan.…”

Cognitive performance of breast cancer survivors in daily life: Role of fatigue and depressed mood

“…Multilevel model results for Symbol Search, Dot Memory, and Card Matching Note. Results are from 47 women assessed up to five times a day (prompt; 1-5) across the 2-week assessment period (days in study:[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. EMA patient reported outcomes reflect differences between breast cancer patients (person mean) and within-person variation (daily fluctuation).Abbreviation: EMA, ecological momentary assessment.…”