Reliability of remote self-administered digital cognitive assessments: preliminary validation study

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Digital Health
• Gerontology

Background:

• Early diagnosis of cognitive impairment and dementia is crucial but often hindered by limited access to healthcare services and skilled providers.
• Digital cognitive assessments (DCAs) offer a promising solution for remote and cost-effective cognitive evaluations.
• Challenges in accessing traditional in-person cognitive assessments disproportionately affect individuals in underserved areas or facing socioeconomic hardships.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate the reliability of the BrainCheck platform for digital cognitive assessments when self-administered remotely.
• To assess the feasibility of using BrainCheck for cognitive evaluations outside of a clinical setting.

Main Methods:

• 46 participants (aged 52-76) remotely completed a battery of six BrainCheck cognitive assessments twice.
• Assessments were performed once self-administered and once by a research coordinator (RC) on the same device.
• Inter-session intervals varied, and testing outcomes were compared between self- and RC-administered sessions.

Main Results:

• Moderate to good agreement (intraclass correlation 0.59-0.83) was observed between self- and RC-administered cognitive assessments.
• Mixed-effects modeling revealed no significant differences in performance based on self- vs. RC-administration.
• Performance consistency was independent of testing order, inter-session interval, device used, or participant demographics.

Conclusions:

• The BrainCheck platform demonstrates feasibility for reliable remote self-administration of cognitive assessments.
• These findings support the use of BrainCheck as an accessible tool for cognitive screening, potentially improving early diagnosis of cognitive impairment and dementia.