Usability of the Mayo Test Drive remote self-administered web-based cognitive screening battery in adults aged 35-100 with and without cognitive impairment.

BACKGROUND

Mayo Test Drive (MTD): Mayo Test Development through Rapid Iteration, Validation and Expansion, is a web-based remote cognitive assessment platform for self-administered neuropsychological measures with previously demonstrated validity and reliability. We examined the usability of MTD and hypothesized that completion rates would be greater than 90%. We explored whether completion and participation rates differed by cognitive status and demographic factors.

METHODS

A total of 1,950 Mayo Clinic Study of Aging and Mayo Alzheimer's Disease Research Center participants (97% White, 99% Non-Hispanic) were invited to participate in this ancillary, uncompensated remote study. Most invitees were cognitively unimpaired (CU;  = 1,769; 90.7%) and 9.3% were cognitively impaired (CI;  = 181). Usability was objectively defined as the percentage of participants who completed a session after initiating a session for a given timepoint (i.e. completion rates).

RESULTS

Baseline session completion rates were 98.5% ( = 1199/1217 participants, mean age 71, SD = 12, range 35-100) and were comparable between CU (98.7%) and CI (95.0%) groups ( = .23). Completion rates did not significantly differ by age groups ( > .10) and remained high in individuals 80+ ( = 251, 97.3%). Participation rates were higher in the CU ( = 1142, 65.4%) versus CI ( = 57, 33.1%) group ( < .001); participants were younger and had more years of education (p's < .001). Adherence (i.e. retention) rate for a 7.5-month follow-up session was 89%. Average session duration was 16 min. Most participants used a personal computer (62.7%), followed by a smartphone (22.2%) or tablet (14.8%). Comments entered by 36.4% of participants reflected several themes including acceptability, face validity, usability, and comments informative for session context.

CONCLUSIONS

MTD demonstrated high usability as defined by completion rates in this research sample that includes a broad age range, though participation rates are lower in individuals with cognitive impairment. Results support good adherence at follow-up, feasibility through mean session duration, and acceptability based on qualitative analysis of participant comments.