Ability to manage everyday technology: a comparison of persons with dementia or mild cognitive impairment and older adults without cognitive impairment

Abstract

Purpose. The ability to manage technology is important for performance and participation in everyday activities. This study compares the management of technology in everyday activities among people with mild-stage dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) with older adults without known cognitive impairment (OA).

Method. Persons with mild-stage dementia (n = 38), MCI (n = 33) and OA (n = 45) were observed and interviewed when managing their everyday technology at home by using the Management of Everyday Technology Assessment (META). A computer application of a Rasch measurement model was used to generate measures of participants' ability to manage technology. These measures were compared groupwise with ANCOVA.

Results. The management of everyday technology was significantly more challenging for the samples with mild-stage Alzheimer's disease (AD) or MCI compared to the OA sample (AD – OA, p <0.001; d = 1.87, MCI – OA, p <0.001; d = 0.66). The sample with MCI demonstrated a significantly higher ability to manage technology than the sample with mild-stage AD (AD – MCI, p <0.001; d = 1.23). However, there were overlaps between the groups and decreased ability appeared in all groups.

Conclusions. Persons with cognitive impairment are likely to have decreased ability to manage everyday technology. Since their decreased ability can have disabling consequences, ability to manage technology is important to consider when assessing ability to perform everyday activities.

Keywords:

• Alzheimer's disease
• MCI
• IADL

Acknowledgements

The authors first of all want to thank the participants who generously demonstrated their management of everyday technology for them. They also want to thank the professionals at the investigation units who helped them to recruit participants. Particularly, the authors would like to thank Sofia Starkhammar, Monica Pantzar, Jenny Rasmussen Tjernlund, Susanne Andersson, Lizette Mårtensson, and Maria Carlsson for data collection and management.

Declaration of interest: This research was mainly funded by the Health Care Sciences Postgraduate School. Financial support was also provided through the Botkyrka community, the Swedish Brainpower and the regional agreement on medical training and clinical research (ALF) between the Stockholm County Council and the Karolinska Institutet.