High Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia.
Research Unit, Physical Activity, Sport, and Health, UR18JS01, National Observatory of Sport, Tunis, Tunisia.
J Alzheimers Dis. 2024;99(1):207-221. doi: 10.3233/JAD-240028.
Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) progress silently, making early diagnosis challenging, especially in less educated populations. The visual paired comparison (VPC) task, utilizing eye-tracking movement (ETM) technology, offers a promising alternative for early detection of memory decline.
This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the efficacy of the VPC task, utilizing ETM as a tool for assessing age-related cognitive changes.
A comprehensive search across five databases and grey literature focused on healthy and impaired memory participants assessed through the ETM-based VPC task. The primary outcomes were novelty preference scores and eye movement metrics. The risk of bias of the included studies was assessed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2 (QUADAS-2). Random-effects meta-analyses calculated Hedges' g effect size. Sensitivity and specificity of the VPC were meta-analytically pooled.
The systematic review included 12 articles, involving 1,022 participants (aged 18 to 90 years, with education ranging from 6.5 to 20.0 years), with a low risk of bias and minimal applicability concerns across all items. Five studies contributed to the meta-analysis, revealing a significant effect favoring the VPC task for recognition memory detection (k = 9, g = -1.03). Pooled sensitivity and specificity analyses demonstrated VPC effectiveness as a recognition memory assessment tool (0.84 and 0.75, respectively).
The VPC task, utilizing ETM, may serve as a biomarker for early memory decline detection. Its use as a digital eye-tracking tool presents a possible alternative to traditional tests, warranting further research for application in neurodegenerative disease diagnosis.
阿尔茨海默病和轻度认知障碍（MCI）悄然进展，使得早期诊断具有挑战性，尤其是在受教育程度较低的人群中。视觉配对比较（VPC）任务利用眼动追踪技术（ETM），为早期发现记忆衰退提供了一种很有前途的方法。
本系统评价和荟萃分析评估了 VPC 任务的功效，该任务利用 ETM 作为评估与年龄相关的认知变化的工具。
全面检索了五个数据库和灰色文献，重点关注通过 ETM 为基础的 VPC 任务评估的健康和受损记忆参与者。主要结果是新颖性偏好评分和眼动指标。使用诊断准确性研究质量评估 2（QUADAS-2）评估纳入研究的偏倚风险。使用随机效应荟萃分析计算 Hedges'g 效应大小。使用荟萃分析汇总 VPC 的敏感性和特异性。
系统评价纳入了 12 篇文章，涉及 1022 名参与者（年龄 18 至 90 岁，受教育程度为 6.5 至 20.0 年），所有项目的偏倚风险低，适用性问题最小。五项研究对荟萃分析作出了贡献，显示 VPC 任务在识别记忆检测方面具有显著效果（k=9，g=-1.03）。汇总敏感性和特异性分析表明，VPC 是一种有效的识别记忆评估工具（分别为 0.84 和 0.75）。
利用 ETM 的 VPC 任务可能成为早期记忆衰退检测的生物标志物。将其用作数字眼动追踪工具可能是传统测试的替代方法，值得进一步研究，以应用于神经退行性疾病的诊断。
