Smartphone- and Tablet-Based Tools to Assess Cognition in Individuals With Preclinical Alzheimer Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment: Scoping Review.

BACKGROUND

Assessment of cognitive decline in the earliest stages of Alzheimer disease (AD) is important but challenging. AD is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by gradual cognitive decline. Disease stages range from preclinical AD, in which individuals are cognitively unimpaired, to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia. Digital technologies promise to enable detection of early, subtle cognitive changes. Although the field of digital cognitive biomarkers is rapidly evolving, a comprehensive overview of the reporting of psychometric properties (ie, validity, reliability, responsiveness, and clinical meaningfulness) is missing. Insight into the extent to which these properties are evaluated is needed to identify the validation steps toward implementation.

OBJECTIVE

This scoping review aimed to identify the reporting on quality characteristics of smartphone- and tablet-based cognitive tools with potential for remote administration in individuals with preclinical AD or MCI. We focused on both psychometric properties and practical tool characteristics.

METHODS

This scoping review was conducted following the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines. In total, 4 databases (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and PsycINFO) were systematically searched from January 1, 2008, to January 5, 2023. Studies were included that assessed the psychometric properties of cognitive smartphone- or tablet-based tools with potential for remote administration in individuals with preclinical AD or MCI. In total, 2 reviewers independently screened titles and abstracts in ASReview, a screening tool that combines manual and automatic screening using an active learning algorithm. Thereafter, we manually screened full texts in the web application Rayyan. For each included study, 2 reviewers independently explored the reported information on practical and psychometric properties. For each psychometric property, examples were provided narratively.

RESULTS

In total, 11,300 deduplicated studies were identified in the search. After screening, 50 studies describing 37 different digital tools were included in this review. Average administration time was 13.8 (SD 10.1; range 1-32) minutes, but for 38% (14/37) of the tools, this was not described. Most tools (31/37, 84%) were examined in 1 language. The investigated populations were mainly individuals with MCI (34/37, 92%), and fewer tools were examined in individuals with preclinical AD (8/37, 22%). For almost all tools (36/37, 97%), construct validity was assessed through evaluation of clinical or biological associations or relevant group differences. For a small number of tools, information on structural validity (3/37, 8%), test-retest reliability (12/37, 32%), responsiveness (6/37, 16%), or clinical meaningfulness (0%) was reported.

CONCLUSIONS

Numerous smartphone- and tablet-based tools to assess cognition in early AD are being developed, whereas studies concerning their psychometric properties are limited. Often, initial validation steps have been taken, yet further validation and careful selection of psychometrically valid outcome scores are required to demonstrate clinical usefulness with regard to the context of use, which is essential for implementation.