Introducing Valutazione Neuropsicologica Interattiva in Telemedicina: A battery of tests designed for a videoconference-based tele-neuropsychological assessment

Objective: There is a pressing need to develop alternatives to the traditional pencil-and-paper, in-ward neuropsychological testing. Remote neuropsychological assessment (tele-neuropsychology; TeleNP) would be extremely useful not only in emergencies but also to reach several patients who cannot reach the hospital. However, there is a lack of instruments that are specifically designed for TeleNP that allow a comprehensive evaluation of cognitive functions. Here, we describe the development and implementation of Valutazione Neuropsicologica Interattiva in Telemedicina (VaNIT), a TeleNP tool including several neuropsychological tests that can be administered remotely. VaNIT was designed and developed to match three key specific requirements: (1) multidimensionality of the assessment—VaNIT includes 29 tests assessing cognitive efficiency, linguistic abilities, memory, and visuospatial functions; (2) evidence-based test selection; (3) interactive virtual environment—developed on a web-based platform with integrated video call. Method: In a pilot study, we explored VaNIT’s usability and feasibility in healthy individuals. Forty healthy individuals (20 males; range = 18–87) underwent the pilot study via PC administration. Results: Age and education consistently affected the vast majority of measures, whereas no relevant sex differences were detected. Novel tasks proved to sufficiently converge to well-known measures at the within-domain level. Conclusions: VaNIT represents an example of digital innovation in the medical area that aims at preserving the interactive nature of the neuropsychological examination. Ultimately, the goal of this work is to reach clinicians and researchers working in the field to make a joint effort in order to rapidly provide diagnostic tools that could in the future be part of the standard toolkit of the neuropsychologist. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)