Functional Assessment using a Virtual Environment

使用虚拟环境进行功能评估

• 批准号: 8833961
• 负责人: Amy Eschman
• 金额: $ 22.45万
• 依托单位: PSYCHOLOGY SOFTWARE TOOLS, INC.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-02-15 至 2016-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8833961
• 关键词: Activities of Daily Living; Address; Aging; Alzheimer' s Disease; Area; Attention; Behavior; Characteristics; Clinic; Cognition Disorders; Cognitive; Collaborations; Complex; Computer Simulation; Computers; Data; Data Collection; Dementia; Deterioration; Diagnosis; Early Diagnosis; Effectiveness; Elderly; Elements; Environment; Evaluation; Eye; Facial Expression; Failure; Feedback; Fingers; Focus Groups; Functional disorder; Galaxy; Goals; Heating; Household; Imagery; Impaired cognition; Impairment; Independent Living; Individual; Individual Differences; Intention; Life; Literature; Long-Term Care; Maps; Marketing; Measurement; Measures; Mediation; Medicare; Medication Management; Methods; Modification; Occupational activity of managing finances; Outcome; Participant; Patients; Pattern; Performance; Persons; Pharmaceutical Preparations; Phase; Pilot Projects; Published Comment; Questionnaires; Reaction Time; Regimen; Rehabilitation therapy; Relative (related person); Research Personnel; Running; Scanning; Specialist; Specific qualifier value; Stream; Stress Tests; System; Tablets; Technology; Telephone; Testing; Therapeutic Intervention; Time; Touch sensation; Transportation; Travel; Video Recording; age group; base; cognitive load; cost; design; functional decline; functional status; gaze; handheld mobile device; improved; informant; innovation; instrumental activity of daily living; interest; iterative design; mild cognitive impairment; millisecond; novel; public health relevance; response; sample fixation; satisfaction; simulation; skills; task analysis; tool; usability; virtual; virtual reality

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This phase I project will develop a computer-based tool for the functional assessment of higher level instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) using simulated activities in a virtual environment (VE). IADLs are the high level activities such as managing finances and complex medication regimens and successfully negotiating novel or new situations that are necessary for fully independent living and which can be compromised by cognitive impairment in older individuals. Indeed, ability to conduct one's usual and typical ADLs is the sine qua non of successful aging. It is frequently the basis for determining whether an older individual is able to live independently and is a core criterion for the diagnosis of dementi. However, valid and reliable measurement of IADLs is difficult. Many existing scales were designed for use with patients with known cognitive impairment and focus on basic activities that are not sensitive to the decline in higher level behaviors that begins well before a dementia diagnosis is made. Most are based on an informant's or the individual's own rating of their abilities. Such an approach has the problem that, for a variety of reasons, individuals and informants may over- or under-rate the person's skills. The range of possible scores is also often limited. Virtual reality using computer simulated environments is an obvious vehicle for the reliable assessment of a range of functional activities. The ultimate goal is to use virtual environment technology to develop a tool that will accurately measure performance across a range of high level functional tasks in older individuals with very mild dysfunction. The proposed tool, Functional Assessment using a Virtual Environment (FAVE), will offer five environments across a range of difficulty. The FAVE tasks (telephone use, medication management, managing finance, household activities and travel using public transportation) have been identified in the literature as activities that are both crucial for independent living and susceptble to subtle impairment. In Phase I, we will use a task analysis approach to prepare scripts and story boards for each scenario, submitting them to a focus group of experts for comments and, if necessary, modification. Two virtual environment scenarios will be implemented using the Unity 3D cross platform game engine. Tasks will be executed on tablet based mobile devices (iPad, Galaxy Tab). The participant will interact with the tablet via a stylus or finger touch with responses accurately time stamped (milliseconds). Eye-tracking and facial expression data will be collected and analyzed during the entire test session. The completed scenarios will be reviewed by expert focus groups and piloted on 10 normal older individuals and 10 persons with mild cognitive impairment to determine the ability of FAVE to detect subtle difficulties in IADLs and identify any necessary changes. In Phase II any final changes would be made before implementation in final product which will be validate in an extensive study comparing FAVE results against actual performance in a large number of subjects.

 描述(由申请人提供)：该第一阶段项目将开发一个基于计算机的工具，用于使用虚拟环境(VE)中的模拟活动对更高级别的日常生活工具活动(IADL)进行功能评估。IADL是一种高层次的活动，如管理财务和复杂的药物治疗方案，并成功地谈判新的或新的情况，这些情况是完全独立生活所必需的，可能会受到老年人认知障碍的影响。事实上，进行日常和典型的ADL的能力是成功衰老的必要条件。它通常是确定老年人是否能够独立生活的基础，也是诊断痴呆的核心标准。然而，IADLS的有效和可靠的测量是困难的。许多现有的量表是为已知的认知障碍患者设计的，重点放在对较高水平行为的下降不敏感的基本活动上，这些行为在痴呆症诊断之前就开始了。大多数都是基于告密者或个人对自己能力的评分。这种方法的问题是，由于各种原因，个人和告密者可能会高估或低估个人的技能。可能得分的范围通常也是有限的。使用计算机模拟环境的虚拟现实显然是对一系列功能活动进行可靠评估的工具。最终目标是使用虚拟环境技术开发一种工具，准确地测量患有非常轻微功能障碍的老年人在一系列高级功能任务中的表现。拟议的工具，使用虚拟环境的功能评估(FAVE)，将提供五个环境，跨越一系列困难。在文献中，最喜欢的任务(电话使用、药物管理、财务管理、家庭活动和使用公共交通的旅行)被确定为既对独立生活至关重要又容易受到细微损害的活动。在第一阶段，我们将使用任务分析方法为每个方案准备脚本和故事板，将它们提交给重点专家小组征求意见，并在必要时进行修改。将使用Unity 3D跨平台游戏引擎实现两个虚拟环境场景。任务将在基于平板电脑的移动设备(iPad、Galaxy Tab)上执行。参与者将通过触控笔或手指触摸与平板电脑进行交互，并精确地标记响应时间(毫秒)。在整个测试过程中，将收集和分析眼睛跟踪和面部表情数据。完成的情景将由专家重点小组审查，并在10名正常老年人和10名轻度认知障碍患者身上进行试点，以确定FAVE发现IADL中的细微困难并确定任何必要变化的能力。在第二阶段，任何最后的更改都将在最终产品实施之前进行，这将在一项广泛的研究中得到验证，将FAVE的结果与大量受试者的实际表现进行比较。