Dataset Information

Cognitive Testing in People at Increased Risk of Dementia Using a Smartphone App: The iVitality Proof-of-Principle Study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Smartphone-assisted technologies potentially provide the opportunity for large-scale, long-term, repeated monitoring of cognitive functioning at home.

Objective

The aim of this proof-of-principle study was to evaluate the feasibility and validity of performing cognitive tests in people at increased risk of dementia using smartphone-based technology during a 6 months follow-up period.

Methods

We used the smartphone-based app iVitality to evaluate five cognitive tests based on conventional neuropsychological tests (Memory-Word, Trail Making, Stroop, Reaction Time, and Letter-N-Back) in healthy adults. Feasibility was tested by studying adherence of all participants to perform smartphone-based cognitive tests. Validity was studied by assessing the correlation between conventional neuropsychological tests and smartphone-based cognitive tests and by studying the effect of repeated testing.

Results

We included 151 participants (mean age in years=57.3, standard deviation=5.3). Mean adherence to assigned smartphone tests during 6 months was 60% (SD 24.7). There was moderate correlation between the firstly made smartphone-based test and the conventional test for the Stroop test and the Trail Making test with Spearman ?=.3-.5 (P<.001). Correlation increased for both tests when comparing the conventional test with the mean score of all attempts a participant had made, with the highest correlation for Stroop panel 3 (?=.62, P<.001). Performance on the Stroop and the Trail Making tests improved over time suggesting a learning effect, but the scores on the Letter-N-back, the Memory-Word, and the Reaction Time tests remained stable.

Conclusions

Repeated smartphone-assisted cognitive testing is feasible with reasonable adherence and moderate relative validity for the Stroop and the Trail Making tests compared with conventional neuropsychological tests. Smartphone-based cognitive testing seems promising for large-scale data-collection in population studies.

SUBMITTER: Jongstra S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5465383 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Cognitive Testing in People at Increased Risk of Dementia Using a Smartphone App: The iVitality Proof-of-Principle Study.

Jongstra Susan S Wijsman Liselotte Willemijn LW Cachucho Ricardo R Hoevenaar-Blom Marieke Peternella MP Mooijaart Simon Pieter SP Richard Edo E

JMIR mHealth and uHealth 20170525 5

<h4>Background</h4>Smartphone-assisted technologies potentially provide the opportunity for large-scale, long-term, repeated monitoring of cognitive functioning at home.<h4>Objective</h4>The aim of this proof-of-principle study was to evaluate the feasibility and validity of performing cognitive tests in people at increased risk of dementia using smartphone-based technology during a 6 months follow-up period.<h4>Methods</h4>We used the smartphone-based app iVitality to evaluate five cognitive te ...[more]

PMID: 28546139

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundBy enabling frequent, sensitive, and economic remote assessment, smartphones will facilitate the detection of early cognitive decline at scale. Previous studies have sustained participant engagement with remote cognitive assessment over a week; extending this to a period of 1 month clearly provides a greater opportunity for measurement. However, as study durations are increased, the need to understand how participant burden and scientific value might be optimally balanced also increases.ObjectiveThis study explored the little but often approach to assessment employed by the Mezurio app when prompting participants to interact every day for over a month. Specifically, this study aimed to understand whether this extended duration of remote study is feasible, and which factors promote sustained participant engagement over such periods.MethodsA total of 35 adults (aged 40-59 years) with no diagnosis of cognitive impairment were prompted to interact with the Mezurio smartphone app platform for up to 36 days, completing short, daily episodic memory tasks in addition to optional executive function and language tests. A subset (n=20) of participants completed semistructured interviews focused on their experience of using the app.ResultsParticipants complied with 80% of the daily learning tasks scheduled for subsequent tests of episodic memory, with 88% of participants still actively engaged by the final task. A thematic analysis of the participants' experiences highlighted schedule flexibility, a clear user interface, and performance feedback as important considerations for engagement with remote digital assessment.ConclusionsDespite the extended study duration, participants demonstrated high compliance with the schedule of daily learning tasks and were extremely positive about their experiences. Long durations of remote digital interaction are therefore definitely feasible but only when careful attention is paid to the design of the users' experience.

Project description:BackgroundThere is a lack of technological resources for the mental stimulation and communication of people with dementia, which can be helpful in improving cognition and quality of life. Paper-based individual cognitive stimulation therapy (iCST) for people with dementia has the potential to be adapted to a touchscreen format. This can improve accessibility and provide mental stimulation using interactive features. There is a need for a rigorous and systematic approach toward development, leading to improved suitability and implementation of the intervention, so that more people can benefit from its use.ObjectiveThis study aims to develop and investigate the usability of Thinkability, an iCST app that can be used by people with dementia and carers on touchscreen tablets.MethodsThe Medical Research Council framework for evaluating complex interventions and the Centre for eHealth Research roadmap served as frameworks for the stages of intervention and technology development. The development of the iCST app itself adopted an agile approach with elements from action research. Hence, it was developed in 3 successive sprints and was evaluated by relevant stakeholders at each sprint. Sprint 1 included 2 patient and public involvement (PPI) consultation meetings, sprint 2 included 1 PPI consultation meeting, and 4 focus groups and 10 individual interviews were organized in sprint 3. A feasibility trial is currently underway.ResultsThe findings from each sprint were used to inform the development. Sprint 1 helped to identify the relevant evidence base and explored the attitudes of people with dementia and carers toward a potential iCST app. In sprint 2, an initial prototype was evaluated in a small PPI consultation meeting. In sprint 3, feedback was gathered through a qualitative study on the quality and perceived effectiveness of the iCST app. It was well received by people with dementia and carers. A need for more updated and personalized content was highlighted.ConclusionsThis study proves that an agile approach toward technology development involving all relevant stakeholders is effective in creating suitable technology. Adding to our previous knowledge of noncomputerized cognitive stimulation therapy, the release of the iCST app will make this psychosocial intervention accessible to more users worldwide.

Project description:Large-scale cohort studies are needed to confirm the relation between dementia and its possible risk factors. The inclusion of people with dementia in research is a challenge, however, children of people with dementia are at risk and are highly motivated to participate in dementia research. For technologies to support home-based data collection during large-scale studies, participants should be able and willing to use technology for a longer period of time.This study investigated acceptance and usability of iVitality, a research platform for home-based monitoring of dementia health indicators, in 151 children of people with dementia and investigated which frequency of measurements is acceptable for them.Participants were randomized to fortnightly or monthly measurements. At baseline and after 3 months, participants completed an online questionnaire regarding the acceptance (Technology Acceptance Model; 38 items) and usability (Post-Study System Usability Questionnaire; 24 items) of iVitality. Items were rated from 1 (I totally disagree) to 7 (I totally agree). Participants were also invited to take part in an online focus group (OFG) after 3 months of follow-up. Descriptive statistics and both two-sample/independent and paired t-tests were used to analyze the online questionnaires and a directed content analysis was used to analyze the OFGs.Children of people with dementia accept iVitality after long-term use and evaluate iVitality as a user-friendly, useful, and trusted technology, despite some suggestions for improvement. Overall, mean scores on acceptance and usability were higher than 5 (I somewhat agree), although the acceptance subscales "social influence" and "time" were rated somewhat lower. No significant differences in acceptance and usability were found between both protocol groups. Over time, "affect" significantly increased among participants measuring blood pressure fortnightly.iVitality has the potential to be used in large-scale studies for home-based monitoring of health indicators related to the development of dementia.

Project description:BackgroundNovel wearable biosensors, ubiquitous smartphone ownership, and telemedicine are converging to enable new paradigms of clinical research. A new generation of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices provides access to clinical-grade measurement of interstitial glucose levels. Adoption of these sensors has become widespread for the management of type 1 diabetes and is accelerating in type 2 diabetes. In parallel, individuals are adopting health-related smartphone-based apps to monitor and manage care.ObjectiveWe conducted a proof-of-concept study to investigate the potential of collecting robust, annotated, real-time clinical study measures of glucose levels without clinic visits.MethodsSelf-administered meal-tolerance tests were conducted to assess the impact of a proprietary synbiotic medical food on glucose control in a 6-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 2×2 cross-over pilot study (n=6). The primary endpoint was incremental glucose measured using Abbott Freestyle Libre CGM devices associated with a smartphone app that provided a visual diet log.ResultsAll subjects completed the study and mastered CGM device usage. Over 40 days, 3000 data points on average per subject were collected across three sensors. No adverse events were recorded, and subjects reported general satisfaction with sensor management, the study product, and the smartphone app, with an average self-reported satisfaction score of 8.25/10. Despite a lack of sufficient power to achieve statistical significance, we demonstrated that we can detect meaningful changes in the postprandial glucose response in real-world settings, pointing to the merits of larger studies in the future.ConclusionsWe have shown that CGM devices can provide a comprehensive picture of glucose control without clinic visits. CGM device usage in conjunction with our custom smartphone app can lower the participation burden for subjects while reducing study costs, and allows for robust integration of multiple valuable data types with glucose levels remotely.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT04424888; http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04424888.

Dataset Information

Cognitive Testing in People at Increased Risk of Dementia Using a Smartphone App: The iVitality Proof-of-Principle Study.

Background

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Cognitive Testing in People at Increased Risk of Dementia Using a Smartphone App: The iVitality Proof-of-Principle Study.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets