Digital assessment tools for the assessment of post-stroke cognitive impairment and post-stroke dementia: A scoping review
Assefa Agegnehu Teshome, Robyn Dale, Edward Bliss, Anna Girardi, Devi Mohan, Prajwal Gyawali, Lin Kooi OngObjective
To identify and evaluate digital tools used to assess post-stroke cognitive impairment and post-stroke dementia.
Methods
PubMed (MEDLINE), Scopus, Embase, JAMA Network, and PsycINFO were searched according to PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Data were extracted from eligible studies on study characteristics, cognitive domains assessed, tool performance metrics and practical considerations.
Result
48 studies met the inclusion criteria, evaluating 37 distinct digital cognitive assessment tools. Most tools were computer-based (n=22), while others were virtual reality (n=5), and smart phone based (n=5). Multi-domain tools were more prevalent (35, 72.91%) than single-domain tools. Over half (n=27, 56.25%) of the studies included participants in the acute to subacute phase post stroke (less than 6 months). Majority of the included studies (n=36, 75%) assessed participants with both ischemic and haemorrhagic strokes. Out of 37 identified digital cognitive assessment tools, just over half (51.35%, n=19) of the tools assessed for validity and reliability in detecting post-stroke cognitive impairment.
Conclusions
Digital cognitive assessment tools offer scalable and user-friendly alternatives to traditional methods for evaluating post-stroke cognitive impairment. Despite their advantages, challenges remain in standardization, accessibility and applicability across diverse clinical settings. Further research is needed to validate these tools and support their integration into routine stroke care and rehabilitation.