Dataset Information

A Novel Digital Digit-Symbol Substitution Test Measuring Processing Speed in Adults At Risk for Alzheimer Disease: Validation Study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Assessing cognitive constructs affected by Alzheimer disease, such as processing speed (PS), is important to screen for potential disease and allow for early detection. Digital PS assessments have been developed to provide widespread, efficient cognitive testing, but all have been validated only based on the correlation between test scores. Best statistical practices dictate that concurrent validity should be assessed for agreement or equivalence rather than using correlation alone.

Objective

This study aimed to assess the concurrent validity of a novel digital PS assessment against a gold-standard measure of PS.

Methods

Adults aged 45-75 years (n=191) participated in this study. Participants completed the novel digital digit-symbol substitution test (DDSST) and the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status coding test (RBANS-C). The correlation between the test scores was determined using a Pearson product-moment correlation, and a difference in mean test scores between tests was checked for using a 2-tailed dependent samples t test. Data were analyzed for agreement between the 2 tests using Bland-Altman limits of agreement and equivalency using a two one-sided t tests (TOST) approach.

Results

A significant moderate, positive correlation was found between DDSST and RBANS-C scores (r=.577; P<.001), and no difference in mean scores was detected between the tests (P=.93). Bias was nearly zero (0.04). Scores between the tests were found to display adequate agreement with 90% of score differences falling between -22.66 and 22.75 (90% limits of agreement=-22.91 to 22.99), and the scores were equivalent (P=.049).

Conclusions

Analyses indicate that the DDSST is a valid digital assessment of PS. The DDSST appears to be a suitable option for widespread, immediate, and efficient PS testing.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04559789; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04559789.

SUBMITTER: Campitelli A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9919459 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

A Novel Digital Digit-Symbol Substitution Test Measuring Processing Speed in Adults At Risk for Alzheimer Disease: Validation Study.

Campitelli Anthony A Paulson Sally S Gills Josh L JL Jones Megan D MD Madero Erica N EN Myers Jennifer J Glenn Jordan M JM Gray Michelle M

JMIR aging 20230127

<h4>Background</h4>Assessing cognitive constructs affected by Alzheimer disease, such as processing speed (PS), is important to screen for potential disease and allow for early detection. Digital PS assessments have been developed to provide widespread, efficient cognitive testing, but all have been validated only based on the correlation between test scores. Best statistical practices dictate that concurrent validity should be assessed for agreement or equivalence rather than using correlation ...[more]

PMID: 36705951

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundThe decline of cognitive processing speed (CPS) is a common dysfunction in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS). The Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) is widely used to formally quantify CPS. We implemented a variant of the SDMT in MS sherpa, a smartphone app for persons with MS.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate the construct validity and test-retest reliability of the MS sherpa smartphone variant of the SDMT (sSDMT).MethodsWe performed a validation study with 25 persons with relapsing-remitting MS and 79 healthy control (HC) subjects. In the HC group, 21 subjects were matched to the persons with MS with regard to age, gender, and education and they followed the same assessment schedule as the persons with MS (the "HC matched" group) and 58 subjects had a less intense assessment schedule to determine reference values (the "HC normative" group). Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were determined between the paper-and-pencil SDMT and its smartphone variant (sSDMT) on 2 occasions, 4 weeks apart. Other ICCs were determined for test-retest reliability, which were derived from 10 smartphone tests per study participant, with 3 days in between each test. Seven study participants with MS were interviewed regarding their experiences with the sSDMT.ResultsThe SDMT scores were on average 12.06% higher than the sSDMT scores, with a standard deviation of 10.68%. An ICC of 0.838 was found for the construct validity of the sSDMT in the combined analysis of persons with MS and HC subjects. Average ICCs for test-retest reliability of the sSDMT for persons with MS, the HC matched group, and the HC normative group were 0.874, 0.857, and 0.867, respectively. The practice effect was significant between the first and the second test of the persons with MS and the HC matched group and trivial for all other test-retests. The interviewed study participants expressed a positive attitude toward the sSDMT, but they also discussed the importance of adapting a smartphone cognition test in accordance with the needs of the individual persons with MS.ConclusionsThe high correlation between sSDMT and the conventional SDMT scores indicates a very good construct validity. Similarly, high correlations underpin a very good test-retest reliability of the sSDMT. We conclude that the sSDMT has the potential to be used as a tool to monitor CPS in persons with MS, both in clinical studies and in clinical practice.

Dataset Information

A Novel Digital Digit-Symbol Substitution Test Measuring Processing Speed in Adults At Risk for Alzheimer Disease: Validation Study.

Background

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Trial registration

Publications

A Novel Digital Digit-Symbol Substitution Test Measuring Processing Speed in Adults At Risk for Alzheimer Disease: Validation Study.

Similar Datasets

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