Affiliations: [a]
Dementia Research Centre, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| [b]
Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK
| [c]
Department of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, UCL Institute of Neurology & Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Queen Square, London, UK
| [d]
Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| [e]
UK Dementia Research Institute at University College London, University College London, London, UK
Correspondence:
[*]
Correspondence to: Aida Suarez-Gonzalez, PhD, Dementia Research Centre, UCL Institute of Neurology, Box 16, National Hospital, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK. Tel.: +44 20 3448 3113; E-mail: aida.gonzalez@ucl.ac.uk.
Abstract: Background:Progressive reading impairment is an early and debilitating symptom of posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) arising from the progressive deterioration of visual processing skills. Objective:The goal of this study was to test the effectiveness of a purpose-built reading app (ReadClear) co-produced with people living with PCA and designed to reduce the reading difficulties experienced by this population (e.g., getting lost in the page and missing words when reading). Methods:Twenty subjects with PCA were included in a cross-over design home-based study aimed at determining whether ReadClear could 1) enhance the subjective reading experience (reading pleasantness) and 2) improve reading accuracy (reducing the number of reading errors) compared with a sham condition (a standard e-reader). Results:Reading using ReadClear provided a better subjective reading experience than sham (p = 0.018, d = 0.5) and significantly reduced the percentage of reading errors (p < 0.0001, r = 0.82), particularly errors due to omissions (p = 0.01, r = 0.50), repeated words (p = 0.002, r = 0.69), and regressions in the text (p = 0.003, r = 0.69). We found that different kinds of reading errors were related to specific neuropsychological profiles. Conclusion:ReadClear can assist reading in people living with PCA by reducing the number of reading errors and improving the subjective reading experience of users.
