Learning effect of computerized cognitive tests in older adults

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the learning effect of computerized cognitive testing in the elderly. METHODS Cross-sectional study with 20 elderly, 10 women and 10 men, with average age of 77.5 (± 4.28) years. The volunteers performed two series of computerized cognitive tests in sequence and their results were compared. The applied tests were: Trail Making A and B, Spatial Recognition, Go/No Go, Memory Span, Pattern Recognition Memory and Reverse Span. RESULTS Based on the comparison of the results, learning effects were observed only in the Trail Making A test (p=0.019). Other tests performed presented no significant performance improvements. There was no correlation between learning effect and age (p=0.337) and education (p=0.362), as well as differences between genders (p=0.465). CONCLUSION The computerized cognitive tests repeated immediately afterwards, for elderly, revealed no change in their performance, with the exception of the Trail Making test, demonstrating high clinical applicability, even in short intervals.