Abstract

Objective

Trail Making Test-Black and White (TMT-B&W) was developed to assess the cognition of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease. Collection and analysis of test results have been limited due to scoring time and efforts required from both administrators and patients during and after taking the test. To increase efficiency and reducing scoring time, a computer version touchscreen-based digital trail making test-black and white (dTMT-B&W) was developed on Android and it was administered on MCI versus cognitively normal controls (NC) participants. The current study examines the sensitivity of newly developed computer version dTMT-B&W on NC and MCI subjects.

Method

dTMT-B&W was developed using MIT app inventor software, a web-based integrated development environment (IDE) with the Android development tools that are used to build fully functional applications for smartphones and tablets. A total of 44 participants were included, comprised of 22 NC and 22 MCI. The dTMT-TMT-B&W was administered to all NC and MCI subjects.

Result

dTMT-B&W was designed to be as consistent with the pen-paper TMT-B&W (ppTMT-B&W) where the application is a standalone installation. dTMT-B&W is divided into two parts (Part-A and Part-B), in which the subject attempts to connect black and white numbered circles sequentially as quickly as possible, while still maintaining accuracy. Similarly, the paper-based TMT-B&W requires the subject to connect black and white numbered circles in ascending order, except on a sheet of paper rather than a tablet. dTMT-B&W successfully distinguished NC from MCI subjects.

Conclusion

dTMT-B&W is an Android application that was successfully developed to be as consistent as possible with the original pen-paper TMT-B&W to establish equal concurrent validity, with some improved features embedded into the design and dTMT-B&W revealed a significant correlation with frontal executive function and this can help in early diagnosing subjects with MCI among NC subjects.

中文翻译：

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数字轨迹制作测试 - 黑白：正常与 MCI

摘要

客观的

Trail Making Test-Black and White (TMT-B&W) 旨在评估轻度认知障碍 (MCI)、痴呆症和阿尔茨海默病患者的认知能力。由于在考试期间和考试后需要管理人员和患者的评分时间和努力，测试结果的收集和分析受到限制。为了提高效率并减少评分时间，在 Android 上开发了基于触摸屏的计算机版数字轨迹制作测试（dTMT-B&W），并在 MCI 与认知正常对照 (NC) 参与者上进行管理。目前的研究检查了新开发的计算机版本 dTMT-B&W 对 NC 和 MCI 受试者的敏感性。

方法

dTMT-B&W 是使用 MIT 应用程序发明者软件开发的，这是一个基于 Web 的集成开发环境 (IDE)，带有用于为智能手机和平板电脑构建功能齐全的应用程序的 Android 开发工具。共纳入 44 名参与者，包括 22 名 NC 和 22 名 MCI。dTMT-TMT-B&W 被施用于所有 NC 和 MCI 受试者。

结果

dTMT-B&W 被设计为与应用程序是独立安装的笔纸 TMT-B&W (ppTMT-B&W) 一致。dTMT-B&W 分为两部分（A 部分和 B 部分），其中受试者尝试尽快按顺序连接黑色和白色编号的圆圈，同时仍保持准确性。同样，纸质 TMT-B&W 要求受试者按升序连接黑色和白色编号的圆圈，除了在一张纸上而不是在平板电脑上。dTMT-B&W 成功地将 NC 与 MCI 受试者区分开来。

结论

dTMT-B&W 是一个 Android 应用程序，它被成功开发为尽可能与原始笔纸 TMT-B&W 保持一致，以建立同等的并发有效性，并在设计中嵌入了一些改进的功能，并且 dTMT-B&W 显示与正面显着相关执行功能，这有助于在 NC 受试者中早期诊断患有 MCI 的受试者。