Outcome measurement of cognitive impairment and dementia in serious digital games: a scoping review

Purpose
Dementia prevalence is increasing worldwide. With the emergence of digital rehabilitation, serious digital games are a potential tool to maintain and monitor function in people living with dementia. It is unclear however whether games can measure changes in cognition. We conducted a scoping review to identify the types of outcomes measured in studies of serious digital games for people with dementia and cognitive impairment.

Methods
We included primary research of any design including adults with cognitive impairment arising from dementia or another health condition; reported data about use of serious digital games; and included any cognitive outcome. We searched Medline (via EBSCO), PsycInfo, CINAHL, Web of Science, from inception to 4th March 2024 and extracted study characteristics.

Results
We reviewed 5899 titles, including 25 full text studies. We found heterogeneity in domains and measures used: global cognition (n?=?15), specific cognitive processes (n?=?13), motor function (n?=?5), mood (n?=?6), activities of daily living (n?=?5), physiological processes (n?=?4) and quality of life (n?=?2). Use of outcome measurement tools was inconsistent; the most frequently used measures were the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (n?=?8), the Mini-Mental State Examination (n?=?7), and the Trail Making Test (n?=?7). Nine studies used in-game measures, most of which were related to game performance.

Conclusion
We found very few studies with assessment of cognition within the game. Studies of serious games for people with dementia and cognitive impairment should develop digital outcome tools based on recommendations in Core Outcome Sets, to increase consistency between studies.

Contributors

Verity Longley, Jordan Wilkey & Carol Opdebeeck

Publication

Journal: Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology
Volume:
Issue:
Pages: -
Year: 2024
DOI: 10.1080/17483107.2024.2405894

Further Study Information

Current Stage: Completed
Date:
Funding source(s): this work was supported by an innovation voucher between Memory lane Games and Manchester Metropolitan University.


Health Area

Disease Category: Health care of older people

Disease Name: Dementia, Mild cognitive impairment

Target Population

Age Range: Unknown

Sex: Either

Nature of Intervention: Other

Stakeholders Involved

Study Type

- COS uptake study
- Systematic review of outcomes measured in trials

Method(s)

- Literature review

we included primary research of any design including adults with cognitive impairmentarising from dementia or another health condition; reported data about use of serious digital games;and included any cognitive outcome. we searched Medline (via eBScO), Psycinfo, ciNAHl, web ofScience, from inception to 4th March 2024 and extracted study characteristics.