Cognitive screening test for rehabilitation using spatiotemporal data extracted from a digital trail making test part-A

• Published in: Heliyon Vol. 10; no. 13; p. e33135
• Main Authors: Kubo, Kouki, Hama, Seiji, Furui, Akira, Mizuguchi, Tomohiko, Soh, Zu, Yanagawa, Akiko, Kandori, Akihiko, Sakai, Hiroto, Morisako, Yutaro, Orino, Yuki, Hamai, Maho, Fujita, Kasumi, Yamawaki, Shigeto, Tsuji, Toshio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 15.07.2024; Elsevier
• Subjects: cognition; Cognitive dysfunction; hemorrhage; infarction; Mini-mental state examination (MMSE); Neuroscience; regression analysis; Rehabilitation; statistical models; Stroke; Tablet-based system; Trail making test (TMT); Neuroscience; Stroke; Trail making test (TMT); Tablet-based system; Mini-mental state examination (MMSE); Rehabilitation; Cognitive dysfunction
• ISSN: 2405-8440; 2405-8440
• DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e33135

We investigated a newly developed digitized Trail Making Test using an iPad (iTMT) as a brief cognitive function screening test. We found that the iTMT part-A (iTMT-A) can estimate generalized cognitive function in rehabilitation inpatients examined using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Forty-two hospitalized participants undergoing rehabilitation (rehab participants), 30 of whom had cerebral infarction/hemorrhage (stroke participants), performed the iTMT five times (first three times: iTMT-A; fourth: paper version of TMT-A; fifth: the inverse version of iTMT-A) and the MMSE once. Each iTMT-A trial's completion time was divided into the move and dwell times. A linear mixed model following post-hoc tests revealed that the completion time of the third and fourth iTMT-A was faster compared to that of the first iTMT-A, suggesting the presence of a learning effect. In the partial least squares (PLS) regression analysis, the coefficient of determination for estimating the MMSE score was increased by using the dwell and move times extracted from the repeated iTMT-A and the availability of TMT-B, even for subjects with low MMSE scores. These findings indicate that the dwell time of iTMT-A may be important for estimating cognitive function. The iTMT-A extracts significant factors temporally and spatially, and by incorporating the learning effect of repeated trials, it may be possible to screen cognitive and physical functions for rehabilitation patients. •Trail making test part-A using iPad(iTMT-A) was performed on rehabilitation patient.•Completion time was divided into move & dwell time.•Learning effect was analyzed via repeated trials.•iTMT-A results correlated with the Mini-Mental State Examination score.•iTMT-A could be a highly advantageous and promising technique for clinical practice.