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Leveraging mHealth and Virtual Reality to Improve Cognition for Alzheimer's Patients: A Systematic Review
Kruse Clemens Scott, Sen Keya, Armenta Valery, Hubbard Nicole, Brooks Rebekah. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 2022-10-28
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a global problem affecting 58 million people, expected to reach a prevalence of 88 million people by 2050. The disease affects the brain, memory, cognition, language, and motor movement. Many interventions have sought to improve memory and cognition. mHealth and virtual reality (VR) are two such interventions. To analyze studies from the last 10 years with older adults with AD to ascertain the effectiveness of telehealth techniques such as mHealth and VR for memory care. In accordance with the Kruse Protocol and reported in accordance with PRISMA 2020, five reviewers searched four research databases (PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect) on 3 August 2022 for studies with strong methodologies that fit the objective statement. Twenty-two studies from 13 countries were analyzed for trends. Four interventions (mHealth/eHealth, VR, mHealth + VR, game console, and telephone) used RCT, quasi-experimental, pre-post, observational, and mixed methods. These interventions improved cognition, memory, brain activity, language, depression, attention, vitality, quality of life, cortical atrophy, cerebral blood flow, neuro plasticity, and mental health. Only three interventions reported either no improvements or no statistically significant improvements. Cost, time, training, and low reimbursement were barriers to the adoption of these interventions. mHealth and VR offer interventions with positive effectiveness for memory care for AD. The long-term effect of this improvement is unclear. Additional research is needed in this area to establish clinical practice guidelines.
Key findings
- Only three interventions reported either no improvements or no statistically significant improvements.
Why it matters
This systematic review found that mHealth and virtual reality interventions improved cognition, memory, and other outcomes in older adults with Alzheimer's disease, though three interventions reported no improvements or no statistically significant improvements. It reviews technology-based cognitive interventions, not a cure or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 31/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 30 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 31 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland)) |
| Journal's citation record | 1 / 4 | Healthcare: journal h-index 120 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 3 / 5 | 2022 — within 6 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 3 / 7 | Cited 15 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-17) |
| Citations per year | 1 / 5 | 2.5 citations a year over 6 year(s) since 2022 |
| Impact for its field and year | 1 / 6 | Cited 0.7× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 12 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | 0 / 3 | Texas State University: institution h-index 260 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 36292292) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 30 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 30 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 31 out of 100. |
| Total | 31 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
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APA 7th
Scott, K. C., Keya, S., Valery, A., Nicole, H., & Rebekah, B. (2022). Leveraging mHealth and Virtual Reality to Improve Cognition for Alzheimer's Patients: A Systematic Review. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland). https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10101845
Vancouver
Scott KC, Keya S, Valery A, Nicole H, Rebekah B. Leveraging mHealth and Virtual Reality to Improve Cognition for Alzheimer's Patients: A Systematic Review. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland). 2022. doi:10.3390/healthcare10101845. PMID: 36292292.
BibTeX
@article{scott2022-36292292,
author = {Scott, Kruse Clemens and Keya, Sen and Valery, Armenta and Nicole, Hubbard and Rebekah, Brooks},
title = {{Leveraging mHealth and Virtual Reality to Improve Cognition for Alzheimer's Patients: A Systematic Review}},
journal = {Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland)},
year = {2022},
doi = {10.3390/healthcare10101845},
pmid = {36292292},
url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10101845}
}
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