Reliability and usability of an internet-based computerized cognitive testing battery in community-dwelling older people

Cognitive decline is an early feature of neurodegenerative conditions. CogState has developed a game-like computerized test battery with demonstrated acceptability, validity, reliability, stability, efficiency and sensitivity to detecting cognitive decline in older people under supervised conditions. This study aimed to evaluate an internet-based version of this test when used remotely and self-administered in a cohort of healthy, community-dwelling older adults aged 55 and above over a 12 month period at 1-3 monthly intervals. Test usability and reliability was examined in terms of acceptability, stability and reliability. Of 150 participants (age: 63.6 ± 5.6, range 55-83 years), 143 (95%) successfully completed a valid baseline test. Of these, 67% completed 3 month and 43% 12 months of testing. Technical difficulties were reported by 9% of participants. For those participants who completed 12 months tests, all tasks showed moderate to high stability and test-retest reliability. This brief computerized test battery was shown to have high acceptability for baseline self-administered testing and moderate to high stability for repeated assessments over 12 months. Attrition was high between baseline and 3 months. These data suggest that this tool may be useful for high frequency monitoring of cognitive function over 6-12 months, and deserves further evaluation.