Systemic Lisbon Battery: Normative Data for Memory and Attention Assessments

Pedro Gamito; Diogo Morais; Jorge Oliveira; Paulo Ferreira Lopes; Luís Felipe Picareli; Marcelo Matias; Sara Correia; Rodrigo Brito

doi:10.2196/rehab.4155

Systemic Lisbon Battery: Normative Data for Memory and Attention Assessments

JMIR Rehabil Assist Technol. 2016 May 4;3(1):e5. doi: 10.2196/rehab.4155.

Authors

Pedro Gamito^{1

2}, Diogo Morais^{1

2}, Jorge Oliveira^{1

2}, Paulo Ferreira Lopes^{1

2}, Luís Felipe Picareli², Marcelo Matias², Sara Correia², Rodrigo Brito^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Cognition and People-centric Computing Laboratories- COPELABS. Lusophone University of Humanities and Technologies, Lisbon, Portugal.
² School of Psychology and Life Sciences. Lusophone University of Humanities and Techologies., Lisbon, Portugal.

Abstract

Background: Memory and attention are two cognitive domains pivotal for the performance of instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). The assessment of these functions is still widely carried out with pencil-and-paper tests, which lack ecological validity. The evaluation of cognitive and memory functions while the patients are performing IADLs should contribute to the ecological validity of the evaluation process.

Objective: The objective of this study is to establish normative data from virtual reality (VR) IADLs designed to activate memory and attention functions.

Methods: A total of 243 non-clinical participants carried out a paper-and-pencil Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and performed 3 VR activities: art gallery visual matching task, supermarket shopping task, and memory fruit matching game. The data (execution time and errors, and money spent in the case of the supermarket activity) was automatically generated from the app.

Results: Outcomes were computed using non-parametric statistics, due to non-normality of distributions. Age, academic qualifications, and computer experience all had significant effects on most measures. Normative values for different levels of these measures were defined.

Conclusions: Age, academic qualifications, and computer experience should be taken into account while using our VR-based platform for cognitive assessment purposes.

Keywords: Systemic Lisbon Battery; attention; cognitive assessment; memory; virtual reality.

©Pedro Gamito, Diogo Morais, Jorge Oliveira, Paulo Ferreira Lopes, Luís Felipe Picareli, Marcelo Matias, Sara Correia, Rodrigo Brito. Originally published in JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology (http://rehab.jmir.org), 04.05.2016.