[p3–266]: a newly developed tool to assess cognitive function using a tablet computer, especially to detect and evaluate mci patients and mild dementia patients

It's important to detect and assess a dementia patients at the earliest stage so that various interventions are easier for patients and for their caregivers. Assessment of the cognitive function by area is also necessary for the early discovery of dementia. We developed a system capable of automatically evaluating and recording the cognitive function by area for the cognitive function. We named it CAT (cognitive assessment tests system). There are various areas responsible for the cognitive function, and the grade and timing of cognitive impairment vary depending on the pathology and primary disease of dementia. To ensure the reliability and simplicity of evaluation, a time limit was set for answering. The validity and reliability of CAT were investigated in 302 patients, who visited the Department of Neurology from March to August, 2016. Of these, 124 were with dementia, 41 were with MCI and 134 were with normal cognitive function (3 were not determined). The correlations of the total score, score of each item, and time required with MMSE were investigated. In addition, ROC curves of the CAT cognitive function score by area and each answer time were drawn for dementia and mild cognitive impairment, AUC was calculated, and the sensitivity and specificity were determined. Pearson's correlation coefficient between CAT and MMSE was 0.885 (p<0.001). The correlation with MMSE was high for calling names of objects, time required for it, immediate recall, and distinguishing objects, whereas it was relatively low for recalling in the reverse order. ROC curves for dementia and for MCI were shown respectively. AUC of the ROC curve for dementia was 0.937 (95%CI; 0.911∼0.964, p<0.01) and 0.933 (95% CI; 0.905∼0.962, p<0.01) for MCI. The correlation of CAT with MMSE was high and AUCs for both dementia and MCI were large. Assessment of the cognitive function by area is necessary because there are various pathologies in dementia and MCI. CAT can be used to not only diagnose MCI and dementia but also evaluate their pathologies because it is capable of automatically evaluating the cognitive function in detail by area within a short time.