Early mobile app training proficiency predicts how well memory-impaired individuals learn to use digital memory aids in the real world.

Functional memory impairment following acquired brain injury can lead to decreased independence. External memory aids such as smartphones can be highly effective compensation tools, but cognitive deficits may create barriers to implementation in daily life. The present study examined predictors of real-world use of mobile calendar applications for memory compensation in an acquired brain injury sample. A retrospective chart review was completed from an outpatient rehabilitation program, extending 15 years into the past, yielding data from 34 eligible participants. All participants demonstrated skill learning of the calendar function in their digital device and subsequently completed the generalization phase of training, which is focused on real-world implementation (measured through prospective memory tasks). The results showed that the length of time required for skill learning of mobile calendars (event entry or responding to alerts) was not predictive of the duration of generalization training. Initial training performance for responding to alerts, but not event entry, was a significant predictor of the duration of generalization training needed to complete the program. A secondary analysis with a subset of the data revealed that individuals with additional executive deficits took significantly longer to complete generalization training compared to those with a more focal memory impairment.

The extent of the neurocognitive impairment in elderly survivors of war suffering from PTSD: meta-analysis and literature review.

OBJECTIVES: We performed a meta-analysis and systematic review on elderly survivors of war suffering from PTSD to estimate the variability in their cognitive impairment based on individual neuropsychological tests. METHODS: We included case control studies that explored the association of cognitive deficits in elderly PTSD civilian survivor of wars (age >60 years), using MEDLINE, Embase and PsycINFO from the inception to January 2018. We compared the cognitive performances in three comparisons i) PTSD+ vs. PTSD- civilian survivors of war; ii) PTSD+ vs. Control and iii) PTSD- vs. Control. The risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale for case-control studies. RESULTS: Out of 2939 titles and abstracts, 13 studies were eligible for data extraction. As compared to PTSD- civilian survivors of war, PTSD+ civilian survivors of war demonstrated significant deficits on TMT-A, TMT-B, Digit span backward, explicit memory low pair associate, CVLT recognition, WAIS-verbal and non-verbal tests. As compared to health controls, PTSD+ survivors demonstrated significantly lower performance on explicit memory low pair and high associate, RAVLT immediate and delayed recall, CVLT delayed and short cued recall. Performance on the neuropsychological test between PTSD- survivors of war and controls was not significant for all tests. CONCLUSION: The pattern suggests that PTSD+ survivors of war had poorer performance in tasks requiring processing speed, executive function, attention, working memory and learning. The magnitude of the cognitive deficits in our pooled analysis was small to moderate depending on the neuropsychological test. Most of our pooled analysis suffered from a high risk of bias, which lowered the confidence in our results.