Newly self-administered two-step tool for screening cognitive function in an ageing Chinese population: an exploratory cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND

Early screening of cognitive function is critical to dementia treatment and care. However, traditional tests require face-to-face administration and are often limited by implementation costs and biases.

AIMS

This study aimed to assess whether the Thoven Cognitive Self-Assessment (TCSA), a novel, innovative two-step touchscreen-based cognition assessment tool, could identify early cognitive impairment due to dementia in older adults.

METHODS

The TCSA was administered to 61 healthy controls (HCs), 46 participants with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 44 participants diagnosed with dementia recruited from Shanghai. Two outcome measures were generated from the TCSA test: the TCSA score and the TCSA score.

RESULTS

The total average scores in the control group for the TCSA and TCSA were significantly higher than those in the MCI and dementia groups (TCSA: HCs vs MCI group vs dementia group, 8.58±1.76 vs 5.40±2.67 vs 2.74±2.11, F=75.40, p<0.001; TCSA: HCs vs MCI group vs dementia group, 23.02±3.31 vs 17.95±4.93 vs 11.93±5.50, F=76.46, p<0.001). Moreover, receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that a score below 7.5 for the TCSA and a score below 22.5 for the TCSA were indicators of MCI.

CONCLUSIONS

The TCSA appears to be efficacious for the detection of cognitive impairment in older adults. It demonstrates the potential for large-scale cognition screening in community service settings.