Validating remote cognitive tests in the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Gerontology
• Psychology

Background:

• Remote cognitive assessments overcome participation barriers for older adults in research.
• Maintaining continuity in longitudinal studies presents challenges for remote assessments.
• Telephone-based cognitive assessments (T-COG) were evaluated against traditional in-person methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the validity and reliability of telephone-based cognitive assessment (T-COG) scores.
• To compare T-COG findings with traditional in-person neuropsychological assessments.
• To assess the feasibility of T-COG for longitudinal research in older adults.

Main Methods:

• Participants from the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention (WRAP) completed T-COG after in-person testing.
• Bland-Altman plots and intraclass correlations were employed.
• Repeatability and bias between assessment methods were statistically analyzed.

Main Results:

• Correlations between in-person and T-COG scores were moderate to large (Pearson r: 0.57–0.80).
• Intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.52 to 0.79.
• Bland-Altman plots indicated wide limits of agreement but no significant bias.

Conclusions:

• The WRAP-abbreviated T-COG is a valid and reliable remote assessment tool.
• T-COG can be completed in under an hour, showing good concordance with in-person tests.
• Implementing T-COG may reduce missing data and enhance participant retention in longitudinal studies.