‘Guttmann Cognitest®’, preliminary validation of an app to test cognitive performance

Background Thanks to technological advances the administration of cognitive assessments via computers, tablets or smartphones continues to increase, both in research and clinical practice. Several systems are commercially available and have been validated. However, there are limited tools that provide a baseline assessment and guide a personalized training program with the seamless integration of follow‐up evaluations. The “Guttmann Cognitest”® app has been specifically designed as a smartphone or tablet app to be eventually integrated as an assessment module of the “Guttmann, NeuroPersonalTrainer”® (Solana et al., 2014), a tele‐cognitive rehabilitation platform. Method In the context of the Barcelona Brain Health Initiative (BBHI, Cattaneo et al., 2018) 57 healthy subjects (28 women, mean age= 56.1±7, age range 42‐65, years of education= 16.1±3.6) underwent an extensive paper‐and‐pencil classical neuropsychological assessment and a cognitive assessment via the mobile app. The two cognitive assessments were completed on different days and their order was counterbalanced across subjects. The “Guttmann Cognitest”® app includes 6 tests designed to assess main cognitive functions and be completed in about 17 minutes (range 9‐30). Results Factorial analysis confirmed that the app measured the intended 6 different cognitive domains. Internal consistency was good (α=0.71) and convergent validity analysis demonstrated that performance in each of the 6 tests in the app correlated with the a priori defined correspondent gold standard paper and pencil test. We found no gender effects, and an expected correlation with age in 5 out of 7 tests. Conclusions Cognitive assessment with a mobile phone is feasible and useful. Preliminary results reveal that the “Guttmann Cognitest”® app has good psychometric properties and is suitable to test cognitive performance in large samples. Once integrated within the “Guttmann NeuroPersonalTrainer”® platform, it will enable automatically screening and effectively monitoring patient’s cognitive capacities over time while undergoing personalized cognitive training and allowing automatic adjustment of treatments in intensity and difficulty according to performance.