scholarly journals Digital Cognitive Tests with Brazilian elderly

Author(s):  
Leandro Agostini Do Amaral ◽  
Renata Pontin de Mattos Fortes ◽  
Thiago Jabur Bittar

Serious games are presented as a very promising mechanism in many settings, such as education and health, however its application with the elderly is little verified. In order to reproduce in digital form the results of the elderly cognitive assessments, made and validated on paper, in this study a digital cognitive test tool, with the characteristics of a serious game, was developed using the Unified Design process. As conclusion, it is suggested that it is possible to achieve results similar to those obtained by validated and paper-based tests, from a game, adapted to the needs of the elderly, in a digital cognitive test format.

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Leandro Agostini do Amaral ◽  
Renata Pontin de Mattos Fortes ◽  
Marcos Hortes Nisihara Chagas ◽  
Paula Costa Castro ◽  
Thiago Jabur Bittar ◽  
...  

Serious games are a promising tool in different scenarios, such as education and health; however, there has been little research reported on their specialized use for older adults. We created a digital cognitive test – with the characteristics of a serious game – using Unified Design aiming to reproduce digitally the results of clinical cognitive evaluation in older people. The digital cognitive test was submitted to two validation experiments targeting an older public (n=40) with little experience in dealing with tablets or smartphones. The first experiment did not show significant correlation, but from it, we implemented initiatives to simplify the tests, which brought a positive result regarding convergence analysis in the second experiment. We concluded that it is possible to use digital games as cognitive tests adapted to the needs of older adults to achieve similar results as those of paper-based cognitive tests.


Author(s):  
Tiffany Tong ◽  
Mark Chignell ◽  
Phil Lam ◽  
Mary C. Tierney ◽  
Jacques Lee

The under-diagnosis of cognitive impairments can lead to increased economic burden, hospitalization, and even death (Inouye, Bogardus, Baker, Leo-Summers, & Cooney, 2000). Many of the current cognitive tests have been developed to diagnose specific conditions. However, there is a lack of cognitive tools to assess transitory conditions that occur between normal cognition and cognitive failure such as delirium. In this paper, we discuss the development of a serious game for cognitive assessment of the elderly that can address this gap. We introduce the whack-a-mole game that we have developed and present initial findings concerning its usability and validity in university and elderly populations. We conclude by discussing the role of human factors engineering, and associated design methodologies, in developing serious games of this type.


2019 ◽  
pp. 5-34
Author(s):  
Anna L. Lukyanova ◽  
Rostislav I. Kapeliushnikov

The paper analyzes changes in job opportunities of older workers in Russia in the period 2005—2017. The study uses the data from the Russian Labor Force Survey conducted by Rosstat. Changes in the occupational and industrial composition of elderly workers follow the trends pursued by other age groups: employment shifts from low- to high-skilled occupations, from physical to intellectual labor, and from material production to the service sector. We find a stronger polarization among older workers as their occupational structure is biased in favor of, on the one hand, the most and, on the other hand, the least qualified types of jobs. Employment of the elderly has fallen sharply in agriculture and manufacturing with a significant increase in trade, education, and health. Although the employment structure of older workers is generally more “traditionalist”, recent decades have witnessed its transformation in “progressive” directions, similarly to other age groups. These findings suggest that the legislated increase in the state retirement age is not likely to give rise to sizeable unemployment among the elderly. Most of them will be able to work in the occupations and industries previously dominated by young and prime-age workers.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 161-161
Author(s):  
Jane Banaszak-Holl ◽  
Xiaoping Lin ◽  
Jing Xie ◽  
Stephanie Ward ◽  
Henry Brodaty ◽  
...  

Abstract Research Aims: This study seeks to understand whether those with dementia experience higher risk of death, using data from the ASPREE (ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly) clinical trial study. Methods: ASPREE was a primary intervention trial of low-dose aspirin among healthy older people. The Australian cohort included 16,703 dementia-free participants aged 70 years and over at enrolment. Participants were triggered for dementia adjudication if cognitive test results were poorer than expected, self-reporting dementia diagnosis or memory problems, or dementia medications were detected. Incidental dementia was adjudicated by an international adjudication committee using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) criteria and results of a neuropsychological battery and functional measures with medical record substantiation. Statistical analyses used a cox proportional hazards model. Results: As previously reported, 1052 participants (5.5%) died during a median of 4.7 years of follow-up and 964 participants had a dementia trigger, of whom, 575 (60%) were adjucated as having dementia. Preliminary analyses has shown that the mortality rate was higher among participants with a dementia trigger, regardless of dementia adjudication outcome, than those without (15% vs 5%, Χ2 = 205, p <.001). Conclusion: This study will provide important analyses of differences in the hazard ratio for mortality and causes of death among people with and without cognitive impairment and has important implications on service planning.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sohyae Lee ◽  
Jin-young Min ◽  
Beom Kim ◽  
Sang-Won Ha ◽  
Jeohng Ho Han ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Recent evidence suggests that sodium imbalances may be associated with cognitive impairment; however, the association between specific domains of cognition remains unclear. This study examines the association between serum sodium levels and immediate and delayed verbal memory as measured by the CERAD Word Learning Test (CERAD WLT), executive function as measured by the Animal Fluency test (AFT), and sustained attention, working memory, and processing speed as measured by the Digit Symbol Substitution test (DSST) in the elderly population of the US aged 60 and older who participated in the 2011–2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (n = 2,541). Methods Cognitive function tests were performed by trained interviewers and sodium levels were measured using indirect ion selective electrode methodology. Results After adjusting for all covariates, quintiles of CERAD WLT scores showed significant positive associations with log-transformed sodium levels (Immediate recall (IR) β = 4.25 (SE = 1.83, p-value 0.027); Delayed recall (DR) β = 6.54 (SE = 1.82, p-value 0.001)). Compared to normal sodium levels, hyponatremia was significantly associated with lower CERAD WLT-IR (β = -0.34, SE = 0.15, p-value 0.035) and CERAD WLT-DR scores (β -0.48, SE = 0.10, p-value < 0.001) and showed borderline significance with AFT scores (β = = -0.38, SE = 0.19, p-value 0.052). Hypernatremia did not show any significant relationships with cognitive test scores, compared to normal sodium levels. Conclusions Our cross-sectional study showed that lower sodium levels were associated with cognitive change, especially regarding memory and executive function.


2009 ◽  
Vol 67 (2a) ◽  
pp. 185-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cássio M.C. Bottino ◽  
Sonia E. Zevallos-Bustamante ◽  
Marcos A. Lopes ◽  
Dionisio Azevedo ◽  
Sérgio R. Hototian ◽  
...  

OBJECTIVE: To determine which combination of cognitive tests and informant reports can improve the diagnostic accuracy of dementia screening in low educated older people. METHOD: Patients with mild to moderate dementia (n=34) according to ICD-10 and DSM-III-R criteria and 59 older controls were assessed with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Fuld Object Memory Evaluation (FOME). Informants were assessed using the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly and the Bayer-Activities of Daily Living Scale. RESULTS: The 4 instruments combined with the mixed rule correctly classified 100% and the logistic regression (weighted sum) classified 95.7% of subjects. The weighted sum had a significantly larger ROC area compared to MMSE (p=0.008) and FOME (p=0.023). The specificity of the tested combinations was superior to the MMSE alone (p=0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive tests combined with informant reports can improve the screening of mild to moderate dementia in low educated older people.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alaa Abd-alrazaq ◽  
Dari Alhuwail ◽  
Eiman Al-Jafar ◽  
Arfan Ahmed ◽  
Shuja Mohd Reagu ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Memory, one of the main cognitive functions, is known to decline by age. Serious games have been used for improving memory among the elderly. The effectiveness of serious games in improving memory has been investigated by several systematic reviews; however, they are limited by design and methodological weaknesses. OBJECTIVE This study aims to assess the effectiveness of serious games in improving memory among the elderly with cognitive impairment. METHODS A systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was carried out. The search sources included searching 8 databases, screening reference lists of the included studies and relevant reviews, and checking studies that cited the included studies. Two reviewers independently carried out the study selection, data extraction, risk of bias assessment, and quality of evidence appraisal. Extracted data were synthesized using a narrative approach and a statistical approach (i.e., meta-analysis), as appropriate. RESULTS Out of 466 citations retrieved, 18 studies met the eligibility criteria of this review. Of those, 15 RCTs were eventually included in 10 meta-analyses. We found that serious games are more effective than no or passive interventions in improving non-verbal memory (P=0.002) and working memory (P=0.02), but not verbal memory (P=0.13). The review also showed that serious games are more effective than conventional exercises in improving verbal memory (P=0.004), but not for non-verbal memory (P=0.12) and working memory (P=0.49). Serious games were as effective as conventional cognitive activities in improving verbal memory (P=0.07), non-verbal memory (P=0.94), and working memory (P=0.08) among the elderly with cognitive impairment. Lastly, the effect of adaptive serious games on working memory was comparable to non-adaptive serious games (P=0.08). CONCLUSIONS Serious games have the potential to improve verbal, non-verbal, and working memory among elderly people with cognitive impairment. However, our findings should be interpreted cautiously given that most meta-analyses were based on a few studies (≤3) and judged to have a low quality of evidence. Therefore, serious games should be offered as supplemental to existing proven and safe interventions, rather than a complete substitute until further, more robust evidence is available. Future studies should investigate the short and long-term effects of serious games on memory and other cognitive abilities among people from different age groups with or without cognitive impairment.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 2008-2014

This research study focuses on the determination factors of elderly that still continue their work activities in the city of Palembang. The purpose of this study is to find out how the influence of Social Security, Education and Health on the decision of the elderly people to continue their work activities in Palembang. The method of data analysis in this study uses the binary logistic regression method in which all variables (independent and dependent) use 2 categories (binary). The results of the estimated data, it is known that the variable Social Security, Education and Health has a significant influence on the decision of the elderly people to continue their work activities in Palembang. Odds Ratio value of 0.046 means that the elderly population who have an elderly social security program have a probability of choosing not to work by 0.046 times when compared to the elderly population who does not have an elderly social security program. Odds Ratio value of 12.298 means that the elderly population completing tertiary education has a probability of choosing to continue working 12.298 times compared to the elderly population completing primary and secondary education. Odds Ratio value of 20.153 means that the elderly population who goes to the doctor/clinic for treatment at least once per 3 months has a chance of continuing to work 20,153 times compared to the elderly population who goes to the doctor/clinic for treatment more than once every 3 months. Nagelkerke's R-Square value is 0.524. This implies that 52.4% of the variation in the independent variable can explain the dependent variable, while the remaining 47.6% is explained by non-model factors or by other variables not examined.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 344-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiyu Sun ◽  
Zhijiang Wang ◽  
Lujie Xu ◽  
Xiaozhen Lv ◽  
Quanzheng Li ◽  
...  

It is widely recognized that depression may precipitate the incidence of dementia in the elderly individuals and individuals with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) in particular. However, the association between subthreshold depression (SD) and cognitive deficits in patients with aMCI remains unclear. To address this, we collected demographic information and conducted a battery of neuropsychological cognitive assessments in 33 aMCI participants with SD (aMCI/SD+), 33 nondepressed aMCI participants (aMCI/SD−), and 53 normal controls (NC). Both aMCI groups showed significantly poorer performance in most cognitive domains relative to the NC group (ie, memory, language, processing speed, and executive function). Notably, the aMCI/SD+ group showed significantly poorer attention/working memory compared with the aMCI/SD− group. Multiple linear regression analyses revealed a significant negative association between the severity of depressive symptoms and attention/working memory capacity (β = − .024, P = .024), accounting for 8.28% of the variations in this cognitive domain. All statistical analyses were adjusted by age, sex, and years of education. A logistic regression model had an accuracy of 72.4% in discriminating between the aMCI/SD+ and aMCI/SD− groups based on individual cognitive profiles over 6 domains. Our findings indicate that patients with aMCI with and without SD have distinct patterns of cognitive impairment. This finding may facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of SD in patients with aMCI.


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