Fourteenth International Conference on Health, Wellness & Society

Abstract

Recently, digital solutions, as apps, have proven useful to assess cognitive impairment (CI), one of the most troubling symptoms in Multiple Sclerosis (MS), experienced by almost 43-70% of people with MS (PwMS). In this view, we tested validity, reliability and usability of DIGICOG-MS®, a novel app for self-assessment of CI, in a sample of PwMS. DIGICOG-MS® includes digital tests assumed to test the most affected cognitive domains in MS as visuospatial memory (VSM), verbal memory (VM), semantic fluency (SF) and information processing speed (IPS), taking inspiration from traditional paper-based tests known to assess the same cognitive domains (SPART, RAVLT, WLG and SDMT). To test the association between traditional and digital tests, the Pearson correlation coefficient (r) was calculated. Test-retest reliability was addressed with the intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). In addition, SUS and MAUQ were administered to measure DIGICOG-MS® usability. Ninety-two PwMS (female: 60) were enrolled, with a mean age of 51.38±11.36, an educational level of 13.07±2.74 years, a disease duration of 12.91±9.51 years, and a disability level as measured by the EDSS of 3.58±1.75. Results indicated strong correlations for VSM, VM, SF and IPS (all ps<.001). Test-retest reliability of the app was excellent (ICCs>.90) for VM and IPS, and good for VSM and SF (ICCs>.80). Interestingly, the app was found significantly usable and well appreciated by PwMS, as indicated by the SUS and MAUQ total scores (84.5±3.34, 104.02±17.69, respectively). Current results may support the use of DIGICOG-MS® for cognitive self-assessment in PwMS into clinical practice.