Validation of the mobile verbal learning test: Illustration of its use for age and disease‐related cognitive deficits

OBJECTIVE: We developed a mobile cognitive test of verbal learning and memory, the mobile verbal learning test (mVLT), to allow for brief, repeated and portable delivery of a 12‐item list learning test through a smartphone. This study examined the psychometric properties of the mVLT among older persons with and without human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). METHODS: Sixty‐eight persons with HIV and 36 HIV‐negative individuals (aged 50–74) completed three trials of the mVLT on a smartphone once daily for 14 days. A different word list was administered each day. RESULTS: Participants completed 80% of the 14 mVLT administrations, equating to 1166 valid and complete mVLTs. Neither adherence nor mean mVLT total score (number correct in 3 recall trials) differed by HIV status. No practice effects from repeated mVLT administration were observed, and there were moderately strong correlations of mVLT performance with performance on the in‐lab version of the task and with traditional cognitive assessments of cognitive processes contributing to memory. We found evidence of within‐person learning across mVLT trials, with persons with HIV demonstrating less learning from trials 1 to 3 compared to HIV‐negative participants. CONCLUSIONS: The mVLT is a valid method to assess learning in the real world in older adults with and without HIV.