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Optimizing mobile cognitive assessment reduces administration time while maintaining screening accuracy in older adults
Hyun‐Jeong Ko, Jin Sung Kim, Whani Kim, Byung Hun Yun, Soobin Park, Dong Han Kim, Ui Jun Kwon, Sang Kwon Lim et al.. Scientific Reports, 2025-08-19
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Growing dementia prevalence underscores the need for efficient screening methods, but lengthy digital assessments often cause fatigue among older adults. To address this, we developed and validated the Digital Assessment of Cognitive Impairment (DACI), a brief mobile application designed to accurately identify cognitive impairment (CI). Initially, 304 older adults (272 healthy, 32 cognitively impaired) completed both a pencil-and-paper Cognitive Impairment Screening Test (CIST) and a full-length DACI. The best-performing CatBoost model achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.813, with sensitivity of 0.903, requiring an average completion time of 321 s. Subsequent feature selection identified two essential subtests for a compact DACI. This compact version was then validated with an additional 297 participants (227 healthy, 70 cognitively impaired), achieving improved diagnostic performance (AUC = 0.871) in only 91 s. DACI effectively distinguishes cognitively impaired older adults with minimal test duration, potentially reducing fatigue and improving adherence. By providing rapid, accurate remote assessment without additional equipment, DACI may significantly enhance accessibility of cognitive screening among older adults. Future studies are warranted to validate DACI's feasibility and performance in unsupervised home settings.
Key findings
- By providing rapid, accurate remote assessment without additional equipment, DACI may significantly enhance accessibility of cognitive screening among older adults.
Why it matters
This study developed a brief mobile cognitive assessment that distinguishes cognitively impaired older adults with minimal test duration. It may improve accessibility of cognitive screening, but future studies are needed to validate its feasibility and performance in unsupervised home settings.
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Study details
- Participants297
- Effect sizeAUC = 0.871
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 47/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Scientific Reports) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | Scientific Reports: journal h-index 463 (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 | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 297 participants |
| Effect reported | 3 / 3 | Effect reported with a statistic (interval, p-value, ratio or similar) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 1 / 7 | Cited 4 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 1 / 5 | 1.3 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025 |
| Impact for its field and year | 2 / 6 | Cited 2.5× 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 4 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Jin‐Woo Kim: h-index 42 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Yonsei University: institution h-index 777 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 4 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40830390) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 47 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-14130-9
- PubMed: 40830390
- Original source →
- Free full text: Scientific Reports →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Ko, H., Kim, J. S., Kim, W., Yun, B. H., Park, S., Kim, D. H., et al. (2025). Optimizing mobile cognitive assessment reduces administration time while maintaining screening accuracy in older adults. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-14130-9
Vancouver
Ko H, Kim JS, Kim W, Yun BH, Park S, Kim DH, et al. Optimizing mobile cognitive assessment reduces administration time while maintaining screening accuracy in older adults. Scientific Reports. 2025. doi:10.1038/s41598-025-14130-9. PMID: 40830390.
BibTeX
@article{ko2025-40830390,
author = {Ko, Hyun‐Jeong and Kim, Jin Sung and Kim, Whani and Yun, Byung Hun and Park, Soobin and Kim, Dong Han and Kwon, Ui Jun and Lim, Sang Kwon and others},
title = {{Optimizing mobile cognitive assessment reduces administration time while maintaining screening accuracy in older adults}},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1038/s41598-025-14130-9},
pmid = {40830390},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-14130-9}
}
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here. Showing 12 of 13.