Robotic Assessment of Cognitive and Motor Impairment in Adults with Sickle Cell Disease

For decades, Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) research has explored the influence of the disease in many domains of functioning throughout childhood. As medical advancements have increased the lifespan of those living with SCD, it is crucial to also evaluate the effects of the disease in adulthood. This paper investigates the relationship between cognition and physical abilities in adults with and without Sickle Cell Disease. We present a preliminary analysis identifying the influence of one domain over the other, focusing on the way cognitive impairment may worsen motor function. To determine this, we employ the Haptic TheraDrive one-degree-of-freedom robot as an objective measure to assess performance, and we compare the results to a battery of clinical assessments. SCD participants were frequency matched to healthy controls to investigate the cognitive and motor functions affected by SCD. There were not many significant differences between groups across cognitive and motor domains, partly due to a small sample size. We did identify significant impairments in elements of working memory. We also found that motor performance could have been impacted by SCD-related pain and stiffness affecting robotic score.