Introduction
MCI, dementia, Self-rating
Approximately 50 million people worldwide suffer from dementia, and this number is expected to increase to 152 million by 2050 [Early detection of MCI symptoms in the community-dwelling older population is the first step of this endeavor [Screening tests can be in various forms: self-evaluation, evaluation by an examiner, or evaluation by a caregiver. Self-rating tests rely on self-reporting by the individual [Performance tests involve the administration and scoring of the test by a medical professional. An example is the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). The internal consistency of the MoCA is .83 (Cronbach α) [The General Practitioner Assessment of Cognition (GPCOG) uses the caregiver as the informant in addition to professional scoring. The internal consistency of the GPCOG has been reported to be .84 (Cronbach α), with a sensitivity of 82% and specificity of 83% [Apart from paper-and-pencil tests, computerized screening tests or digital screening tests take advantage of information technology and the portability of service delivery [Given the aforesaid unmet needs and shortcomings, we developed a new screening test called “Efficient Online MCI Screening System” (EOmciSS) for use by community-dwelling older adults. First, we selected test items of relatively high sensitivity and high specificity for MCI. “cube copying” (CC) and “clock drawing” (CD) have shown a sensitivity of 65.6% and 57.1% and specificity of 53.3% and 70.0%, respectively, for individuals with MCI versus individuals with NCF [EOmciSS has certain features that cater to the needs and self-paced operations of older users. For example, test instructions are delivered audially and visually simultaneously. Cross-audiovisual presentations can enhance the attention and, hence, the learning of users to understand the operation of test tasks [We aimed to gather evidence of the validity of EOmciSS for identifying community-dwelling older adults with MCI risks. It is a self-paced, rapid, cognitive screening test for users that can be completed within 10 minutes on tablets or smartphones in homes or care centers. We hypothesized that the test items of EOmciSS would contribute significantly to identify individuals with a high risk of MCI, and that the sensitivity and specificity of EOmciSS would be comparable with those of other paper-and-pencil tests for MCI screening.