Abstract

Background: We studied whether cognitive and physical assessments of the elderly can be carried out as reliably via a web conference system with social distancing as they can face-to-face.
Methods: We enrolled 10 male and 1 female elderly Japanese aged 69-80 years. The application of an audiovisual technology setup using the Zoom web conference system enabled assessment with the examinee and examiner in separate rooms. For assessment of cognitive function, 2 personal computers (PCs), one with a webcam and one with a document camera, were located in the examinee room (one shows the examinee’s face and the other shows the drawing the examinee made on the desk). The examiner’s PC with webcam was connected to the web conference system (Zoom as a host). For assessment of physical function, one PC with webcam was located in the examinee room to show the examinee’s movement during the physical function test (5-m walking speed), and the examiner assessed physical strength (upper grip, chair standing 30 seconds (CS-30)) via another PC through a video camera-image connected by video-capture board. The examiner’s PC with webcam was connected to the web conference system (Zoom as a host) for oral advice. An action camera was attached to the waist of the examinee and 5-m walking speed was assessed from pictures of the floor and the examinee’s lower limbs after walking.
Results: The relationship between the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) in a face-to-face setting and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Japanese version (MoCA-J) via web conference was similar to the relationship between the MMSE via web conference and MoCA-J face-to-face. The physical assessment (5-m walking test at maximum speed, upper grip, CS-30) via web conference was similar the results with face-to-face assessment.
Conclusion: These results suggest that a web conference system for measurement of cognitive and physical function is equally beneficial to face-to-face assessment.