Three Neurocognitive Mobile Applications: Perception Of Usability In Adults With And Without Parkinson’S Disease

Mobile technology and applications are now commonly used for neurocognitive testing. Adequate motor control is necessary to perform such assessments. PURPOSE: This study assessed the perceived usability of three neurocognitive mobile applications among healthy individuals and those with Parkinson’s Disease (PD). METHODS: 25 adults (10 females, 15 males), aged 57 to 81 years, divided into two groups: (1) without PD (n = 11; m = 70.36 ± sd = 6.87 yrs) and (2) with PD (n = 14; m = 72.64 ± sd = 4.55 yrs). Participants completed three trials (initial, wk2, wk4) on three neurocognitive mobile applications (NMA) (app1-smartphone, app2-tablet, app3-touchscreen monitor). Following each trial, perceived level of difficulty (PLD) per NMA was recorded, and NMA preference ranked. Two separate 3x3x2 repeated measures ANOVAs were administered. First, PLD of NMA across trials between groups, and the second to determine preference of NMA. RESULTS: Greenhouse-Geisser on PLD reported a significant main effect for NMA, F(1.501, 16) = 6.354, p = 0.01, ηp2 = 0.28, power = 0.79. No other interactions or main effects for PLD of NMA across trials between groups were found to be significant (p < 0.05). Post-hoc PLD tests revealed both the app1-smartphone (p = 0.01) and app2-tablet (p = 0.02) were significantly easier to use than app3-touchscreen monitor for non-PD. Greenhouse-Geisser also determined preference rankings of the three NMA across trials between groups showing a significant main effect of the NMA, F(1.966, 16) = 14.884, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.48, power = 0.99. All other analyses showed no significant interactions or main effects (p < 0.05). Post-hoc tests revealed app1-smartphone was the most preferred NMA irrespective of PD status followed by app2-table, and app3-touchscreen being the least preferred. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest, smartphones and tablets were generally perceived as easier to use than touchscreen monitors for neurocognitive assessments, regardless of PD status. Furthermore, participants consistently favored the smaller smartphone and app followed by the tablet-driven app, with the larger touchscreen monitor and app being least preferred. These findings highlight the importance of considering motor control challenges, especially for individuals with PD, when selecting devices for neurocognitive testing. Supported by: Regional Institute on Aging Grant