PATIENT-INTERACTIVE, AUTOMATED DEMENTIA BATTERY

DIAGNOSIS OF DEMENTIA BY WIDELY USED SCREENING TOOLS AND ROUTINE PSYCHIATRIC OR NEUROLOGIC INTERVIEW HAS ERROR RATES OF UP TO 50 PERCENT. THEY CAN REQUIRE HIGHLY SKILLED PERSONNEL FOR ADMINISTRATION AND ALL TOO OFTEN YIELD INCOMPLETE, UNSYSTEMATIC, AND INSENSITIVE DATA. PREVIOUS COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH HAS RESULTED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MULTIPHASIC DEMENTIA BATTERY THAT EXHIBITS 98-PERCENT SENSITIVITY AND 97-PERCENT SPECIFICITY IN DISTINGUISHING EARLY SENILE DEMENTIA OF THE ALZHEIMER'S TYPE. PHASE I ACTIVITIES WILL COMPLETE DEVELOPMENT OF A PROTOTYPE HARDWARE-SOFTWARE SYSTEM (INTERACTIVE DEMENTIA BATTERY OR IDB) THAT ALLOWS PATIENTS TO INTERACT WITH A COMPUTER USING AN UNATTACHED CONDUCTIVE STYLUS. THE SOFTWARE PACKAGE WILL BE COMPOSED OF SIX MODULES. THE MICROCOMPUTER-BASED HARDWARE ENSEMBLE INCORPORATES DUAL HIGH-RESOLUTION MONITORSWITH HIGH-RESOLUTION TOUCH SCREENS THAT ALLOW A PATIENT TO INTERACT WITH DISPLAYED GRAPHIC FIGURES AND TEST ITEMS DIRECTLY IN REAL TIME. THESE FEATURES WILL GREATLY SPEED, SIMPLIFY, AND STANDARDIZE TEST ADMINISTRATION, SCORING, REPORT GENERATION, AND RESULTANT DATABASES. THE IDB SYSTEM WILL BE CAPABLE OF DISPLAYING NEARLY ANY GRAPHIC IMAGE OR FIGURE AND WILL INCORPORATE A UNIQUE SOFTWARE DRIVER THAT WILL PERMIT COMPLEX TWO-WAY (PATIENT-COMPUTER) AND THREE-WAY (CLINICIAN-PATIENT-COMPUTER) INTERACTIONS. IN PHASE II, AN INTEGRATIVE REPORT WRITER WILL BE IMPLEMENTED, AND A DATABASE ANALYSIS PACKAGE WILL BE COMPLETED. FURTHER REFINEMENT OF SOFTWARE, HARDWARE, AND DIAGNOSTIC ALGORITHMS WILL BE FIELD-TESTED.