Abstract
BackgroundMemory and attention are two cognitive domains pivotal for the performance of instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). The assessment of these functions is still widely carried out with pencil-and-paper tests, which lack ecological validity. The evaluation of cognitive and memory functions while the patients are performing IADLs should contribute to the ecological validity of the evaluation process.ObjectiveThe objective of this study is to establish normative data from virtual reality (VR) IADLs designed to activate memory and attention functions.MethodsA total of 243 non-clinical participants carried out a paper-and-pencil Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and performed 3 VR activities: art gallery visual matching task, supermarket shopping task, and memory fruit matching game. The data (execution time and errors, and money spent in the case of the supermarket activity) was automatically generated from the app.ResultsOutcomes were computed using non-parametric statistics, due to non-normality of distributions. Age, academic qualifications, and computer experience all had significant effects on most measures. Normative values for different levels of these measures were defined.ConclusionsAge, academic qualifications, and computer experience should be taken into account while using our VR-based platform for cognitive assessment purposes.
Highlights
Attention and memory are among the most common cognitive functions affected by acquired brain injuries [1]
Age, academic qualifications, and computer experience should be taken into account while using our virtual reality (VR)-based platform for cognitive assessment purposes. (JMIR Rehabil Assist Technol 2016;3(1):e5) doi:10.2196/rehab
If we take into account these differences, these results indicate that VR-based assessments of cognitive functions using tasks that reproduce activities of daily life, such as the Systemic Lisbon Battery (SLB), may be useful to assess cognitive functioning during the execution of activities of daily living, a larger study comparing normal with clinical samples, and evaluating the comparative performance and within-subject correlation between results of the SLB and traditional neuropsychological tests is still needed
Summary
Attention and memory are among the most common cognitive functions affected by acquired brain injuries [1]. This ability depends on processes of orientation and alertness [3]. The ability to perform everyday life tasks may depend on memory functions [9], which are affected by pre-frontal brain lesions [10]. Memory and attention are two cognitive domains pivotal for the performance of instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). The assessment of these functions is still widely carried out with pencil-and-paper tests, which lack ecological validity. The evaluation of cognitive and memory functions while the patients are performing IADLs should contribute to the ecological validity of the evaluation process
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