Introduction: It is necessary to identify individuals who are at risk of developing mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia among the community-dwelling older adults. Therefore, our team is developing application for a tablet device to assess cognitive function through numerical input.
Objectives: This study aimed to examine the relationship between the time needed for the input the digit sequence and Japanese version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA-J).
Methods: The participants were 65 adults aged 65 years or older living in Osaka (mean age 75.9 ± 5.1 years).
The numeric input task involved entering 4-digit, 7-digit, and 11-digit sequence to the tablet which is displayed on computer screen. In the button arrangement on the tablet screen, two patterns were tested: the normal pattern and the random pattern. We analyzed the correlation between the time needed for the numeric input task and the total score as well as sub-items score of MoCA-J.
Results: For the total score, a stronger correlation was observed for the input of 7-digit and 11-digit sequence compared to the 4-digit sequence, particularly when the button arrangement was set to a random pattern. In the analysis of sub-scores, the time needed in all conditions were significantly correlated with ‘Attention’. Additionally, in the random pattern of the button arrangement, the time showed significant association not only with ‘Attention’ but also with ‘Executive function’, ‘Memory’, and ‘Language’.
Conclusion: The results suggest that the numeric input task in the random pattern condition may more effectively reflect the decline in cognitive function of older adults.