Feasibility of the cognitive assessment of nursing home residents with mild-to-moderate cognitive impairment using the intelligent voice-guided digital assistant THALIE: A pilot study
Patricia Sagaspe PhD*, Véronique Lespinet-Najib PhD, Sylvie Poulette PhD, Jean-Christophe Vasselon, Amélie Roche PhD, Colette Fabrigoule PhD, Thierry Le Brun MD, Anne Bessous MD, Emilie Fouchier, Camille Montagut, Morgane Ledoux, André Joly PhD, Pierre Ph
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AbstractBackground: Generally, little information is available on the cognitive status of institutionalized elderly persons. The intelligent voice-guided digital assistant THALIE is a computer-based device measuring memory, executive functions, language, visuo-spatial skills, and attention, developed to facilitate the cognitive assessment of residents in nursing homes.
Objective: The objective was to determine its feasibility of implementation for the clinical assessment of cognitive functioning in residents in nursing homes.
Methods: The computerized battery THALIE consisting of five neuropsychological tests and the traditional paper-and-pencil MMSE were administered to 14 elderly participants residing in three French nursing homes (EHPAD) who had mild-to-moderate cognitive impairment, potentially due to Alzheimer’s disease or related disorders.
Non-parametric Spearman’s correlations were performed to assess the association between THALIE and MMSE scores. Individual neuropsychological performance profiles were determined.
Results: THALIE performances were weakly correlated with MMSE score. THALIE gave a better overview per resident of the extent of impairment of their various cognitive functions than the MMSE used alone, and made it possible to identify less impaired functions.
Conclusion: The feasibility of THALIE computerized cognitive assessment of residents in nursing homes is confirmed. It allows to evaluate various neurocognitive functions in nursing-home residents and holds much promise for setting up personalized cognitive care plans for these subjects.Keywords: Older adults, cognitive impairment, computerized battery, nursing home
Patricia Sagaspe PhD*, Véronique Lespinet-Najib PhD, Sylvie Poulette PhD, Jean-Christophe Vasselon, Amélie Roche PhD, Colette Fabrigoule PhD, Thierry Le Brun MD, Anne Bessous MD, Emilie Fouchier, Camille Montagut, Morgane Ledoux, André Joly PhD, Pierre Ph (2020). Feasibility of the cognitive assessment of nursing home residents with mild-to-moderate cognitive impairment using the intelligent voice-guided digital assistant THALIE: A pilot study. Gerontechnology, 19(4), 1-9
https://doi.org/10.4017/gt.2020.19.04.390