TY - JOUR
T1 - Digital neuropsychological assessment
T2 - Feasibility and applicability in patients with acquired brain injury
AU - Spreij, Lauriane A.
AU - Gosselt, Isabel K.
AU - Visser-Meily, Johanna M.A.
AU - Nijboer, Tanja C.W.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2020/9/13
Y1 - 2020/9/13
N2 - Introduction: Digital neuropsychological assessment (d-NPA) has several advantages over paper-and-pencil tests in neuropsychological assessment, such as a more standardized stimulus presentation and response acquisition. We investigated (1) the feasibility and user-experience of a d-NPA in patients with acquired brain injury (ABI) and healthy controls; (2) the applicability of conventional paper-and-pencil norms on digital tests; and (3) whether familiarity with a tablet would affect test performance on a tablet. Method: We administered a d-NPA in stroke patients (n = 59), traumatic brain injury patients (n = 61) and healthy controls (n = 159). The neuropsychological tests were presented on a tablet and participants used a pencil stylus to respond. We examined the completion rate to assess the feasibility, and a semi-structured interview was conducted to examine the user-experience. The applicability of conventional norms was examined by the number of healthy controls performing <10th percentile, which was expected to be no more than 10%. The effect of tablet familiarity on test performance was examined with a regression-based model. Results: Overall, 94% of patients completed the d-NPA. The d-NPA was considered pleasant by patients and healthy controls. Conventional norms that exist for paper-and-pencil tests were not applicable on the digital version of the tests, as up to 34% of healthy controls showed an abnormal performance on half of the tests. Tablet familiarity did not affect test performance on a tablet, indicating that participants who were more experienced with working with a tablet did not perform better on digital tests. Conclusions: The administration of a d-NPA is feasible in patients with ABI. Familiarity with a tablet did not impact test performance, which is particularly important in neuropsychological assessment. Future research should focus on developing norms in order to implement a d-NPA in clinical practice.
AB - Introduction: Digital neuropsychological assessment (d-NPA) has several advantages over paper-and-pencil tests in neuropsychological assessment, such as a more standardized stimulus presentation and response acquisition. We investigated (1) the feasibility and user-experience of a d-NPA in patients with acquired brain injury (ABI) and healthy controls; (2) the applicability of conventional paper-and-pencil norms on digital tests; and (3) whether familiarity with a tablet would affect test performance on a tablet. Method: We administered a d-NPA in stroke patients (n = 59), traumatic brain injury patients (n = 61) and healthy controls (n = 159). The neuropsychological tests were presented on a tablet and participants used a pencil stylus to respond. We examined the completion rate to assess the feasibility, and a semi-structured interview was conducted to examine the user-experience. The applicability of conventional norms was examined by the number of healthy controls performing <10th percentile, which was expected to be no more than 10%. The effect of tablet familiarity on test performance was examined with a regression-based model. Results: Overall, 94% of patients completed the d-NPA. The d-NPA was considered pleasant by patients and healthy controls. Conventional norms that exist for paper-and-pencil tests were not applicable on the digital version of the tests, as up to 34% of healthy controls showed an abnormal performance on half of the tests. Tablet familiarity did not affect test performance on a tablet, indicating that participants who were more experienced with working with a tablet did not perform better on digital tests. Conclusions: The administration of a d-NPA is feasible in patients with ABI. Familiarity with a tablet did not impact test performance, which is particularly important in neuropsychological assessment. Future research should focus on developing norms in order to implement a d-NPA in clinical practice.
KW - acquired brain injury
KW - computerized assessment
KW - Neuropsychological assessment
KW - stroke
KW - traumatic brain injury
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85090186581&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/13803395.2020.1808595
DO - 10.1080/13803395.2020.1808595
M3 - Article
C2 - 32878561
AN - SCOPUS:85090186581
SN - 1380-3395
VL - 42
SP - 781
EP - 793
JO - Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology
JF - Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology
IS - 8
ER -