The Use of Digital Technology to Assess Cognitive Function in Tunisian Adults

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Boujelbane, Mohamed Ali^a | Trabelsi, Khaled^{a; b} | Boukhris, Omar^{a; c} | Kacem, Faten Hadj^d | Ammar, Achraf^{e; f} | Charfi, Ichrak^g | Turki, Mouna^h | Charfeddine, Salmaⁱ | Bouaziz, Bassem^j | Hakim, Ahmed^k | Frikha, Hamdi^d | Chabchoub, Mohamed Amine^a | Chtourou, Hamdi^{a; c; *} | Glenn, Jordan M.^{l; m} | Myers, Jennifer Rae^l

Affiliations: [a] High Institute of Sport and Physical Education, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia | [b] Research Laboratory: Education, Motricité, Sport et Santé, EM2S, LR19JS01, High Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia | [c] Physical Activity, Sport, and Health, UR18JS01, National Observatory of Sport, Tunis, Tunisia. | [d] Department of Endocrinology, Hedi Chaker Hospital, Sfax, Tunisia | [e] Department of Training and Movement Science, Institute of Sport Science, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany | [f] Interdisciplinary Laboratory in Neurosciences, Physiology and Psychology: Physical Activity, Health and Learning (LINP2), UPL, UFR STAPS (Faculty of Sport Sciences), Paris Nanterre University, Nanterre, France | [g] Diagnostic and Therapeutic Unit for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias “La Trêve”, Errachid Polyclinic, Sfax, Tunisia | [h] Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Habib Bourguiba University Hospital, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia | [i] Department of Cardiology, Hédi Chaker University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia | [j] Higher Institute of Computer Science and Multimedia of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia | [k] Laboratory of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia | [l] Neurotrack Technologies, Redwood City, CA, USA | [m] Exercise Science Research Center, Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Prof. Hamdi Chtourou, University of Sfax, High Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Sfax, Sfax 3000, Tunisia. Tel.: +21622872095; E-mail: hamdi.chtourou@isseps.usf.tn.

Abstract: Background:There has been increasing evidence and support for the use of digital technology in the cognitive health field. Despite the growing use of innovative digital technology to assess cognitive function, such technology remains scarce in Arabic countries, particularly in Tunisia. Objective:To investigate the effectiveness of a digitally delivered cognitive assessment battery in differentiating varying degrees of cognitive function in older Tunisian adults. Methods:One hundred fifty-five Tunisian older adults (age: 62.24±7.52 years) were assigned to one of four groups: healthy controls (HC), at-risk (AR), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Participants completed a translated version of the Neurotrack digital cognitive battery. Results:The AD group performed significantly lower on the associative learning (p = 0.01) and associative memory assessments (p = 0.002), than the HC and AR groups. The AD group also performed worse on the inhibition measure (p = 0.008) than the HC, AR, and MCI groups. For recognition memory, the was a significant difference between all four groups (p < 0.0005), with AD having the lowest scores followed by the MCI, AR, and HC groups, respectively. There were no significant differences observed on attention, executive function and processing speed performance between the four groups (p > 0.05). Conclusion:The use of digital technology appears to be a viable solution to current cognitive assessment challenges for assessing cognitive function in a Tunisian population. These findings provide further support for the use of digital technology in cognitive assessment, particularly in understudied populations.

Keywords: Aging, cognitive decline, dementia, digital technology, eye-tracking movement

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-220398

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 88, no. 4, pp. 1545-1552, 2022