Experiences on Computerised Neuropsychological Tests for Dementia Using a Mobile Touchable Interface

Neuropsychological assessment is a key issue to obtain a prior dementia diagnosis and is traditionally supported by standard neuropsychological test batteries (NPS). In daily practise, clinicians administer a high number of NPS tests, however, the supervision of such tests and posterior assessment is not a simple issue. After two decades, computer-based NPS batteries have received considerable attention to solve such problems. Most of the research focuses on the design of new NPS tests to evaluate cognitive impairments using a computer. However, there is no international consensus on the adoption of such proposals and, paper and pencil NPS tests are in neurological protocols. An alternative approach is the computer support of original NPS protocols. Previous proposals mostly require tailored hardware and specific software, hardly integrated in their hospital information system. Nowadays, the availability of cheap touch screen and mobile technology is promising to develop new tools to administer NPS tests similarly as the original standards. In this work, we present an implementation of the widely used Trail Making Test adapted to a mobile-touchable interface for initial diagnosis purposes. We also present the results after a first experience with patients of a dementia unit in a hospital.