Development of a Digital Cognitive Screening Test to detect Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia in Clinical Settings.

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Project Summary Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias are a growing health problem in our aging population. Assessment of cognitive functioning for early detection is critical to identify individuals who might benefit from treatment with the available symptomatic medications for mild dementia as well as future disease-modifying therapies that are actively under development and being tested in clinical research trials. Current cognitive screening tools are time-consuming and not routinely used or documented in busy primary care settings. As a result, we need easily accessible tools, such as patient self-administered measures, to screen individuals in primary care settings to guide counseling, referrals, and interventions. The proposed STTR Phase I project aims to develop and test an innovative digital cognitive screening instrument, RIMCAT (Rhode Island Mobile Cognitive Assessment Tool) to identify mild cognitive impairment and dementia in older adults. RIMCAT consists of 10 components and was designed for self-administration in supervised settings such as primary care practices and provides a cognitive-friendly interface allowing voice inputs, keyboard typing, and easy-to-understand instructions. The goal of this STTR project is to examine the initial reliability and validity of RIMCAT through a psychometric study. The project also includes the development of a digital health framework to support the workflow of MCI/dementia screening. This work will establish the usability of RIMCAT among older adults who could undergo the screening assessment on a digital platform, regardless of their ability to use modern mobile technologies.