Feasibility and Validity of A Novel Computer Based Battery of Assessments in the Elderly

Pennington Biomedical Research Center57 enrolled

Overview

While standard pencil-and-paper test have continued to be useful for the monitoring of cognition, mood, and life space (LS) in the elderly they do have considerable limitations. Use of these pencil-and-paper tests requires that individuals come to the clinic for assessments, which results in significant clinical costs and practical limitations in the conducting of assessments in large numbers of individuals, and provides a time consuming and non-automated means of quantifying and recording changes in brain function. It is increasingly recognized that there is a need to develop valid and reliable computer based assessments to allow for the remote assessment of cognition, mood, and other parameters. Development of computerized based assessments will significantly increase the scale, scope, and speed with which cognition and mood can be measured in the elderly. Helping Hands Technology LLC (HHT) has developed a number of web based assessments of cognition, mood, and LS. These new computerized assessments will be developed using new technology, and are based on the general principles found in existing pencil-and-paper based assessments of cognition, mood, and LS. In addition, HHT is developing proprietary means of reporting the results of the computerized assessments in an easy to use narrative format. This study will focus on quantifying the feasibility and validity of using HHT computerized assessments.

See Brief Summary Section.

Study Type

OBSERVATIONAL

Enrollment

Conditions

Computerized Assessment Feasibility and Validity

Interventions

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 60 YearsMax age: 85 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Men and woman between the ages of 60-85, inclusive * Cognitive function/impairment within appropriate ranges for the study (Mini-Mental State Exam scores of 10-30, inclusive) Exclusion Criteria: * Unable to complete computerized and standard pencil-and-paper based assessments

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Reliability and Validity of HHT's Computerized Assessments as Assessed by Correlation Analysis.

Assess the reliability, validity and internal consistency of the HHT-D (Helping Hands Depression Test; min and max score is 0 and 30, respectively; higher scores reflect higher depression) and the HHT-G (Helping Hands global cognitive function screener; min and max scores are 0 and 30, respectively; higher scores reflect better cognition). In addition to assessing reliability, the HHT scales' validity was examined by correlating scores on the HHT scales with existing and already validated pen-and-paper assessments, which included the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE; min and max scores are 0 and 30, higher scores reflect better cognitive functioning), and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS; min and max scores are 0 and 15, respectively; higher scores reflect higher depression).

Time frame: Visit completed over 16 day period