Can Changes in Older Adults' Technology Use Patterns be Used to Detect Cognitive Decline?

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The number of older adults diagnosed with dementia is expected to more than double by mid-century. Monitoring older adults' cognitive functioning is essential for the early detection of dementia, which can increase treatment efficacy and slow the disease progression. Current approaches to detect preclinical dementia are expensive, invasive, and are not accessible to everyone. This study aimed to determine whether technology use patterns could be used as an indicator of cognitive change. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Using six waves (2015 - 2020) from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS), we examined within-person and between-person effects of stopping four types of technology use on four cognitive outcomes. RESULTS: Our analyses showed that stopping the use of the Internet, computers, tablets, and sending texts and emails were related to cognitive decline. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: These results suggest that monitoring technology use patterns may be an innovative approach that is economical and efficient to identify individuals at risk of cognitive decline.