A Virtual Reality-Based Screening Test for Cognitive Impairment in Small Vessel Disease

BACKGROUND: There is a need for new practical tools to assess the cognitive impairment of small vessel disease (SVD) patients in the clinic. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine cognitive functioning by administering the Virtual Supermarket (VST) in patients with SVD with cognitive impairment (SVD-CI, N = 32), cognitively normal SVD (SVD-CN, N = 37), and age-and education-matched healthy controls (HC, N = 30). METHODS: The tablet-based VST application and comprehensive traditional pencil-and-paper neuropsychological tests assessing memory, attention, executive function, visuospatial function, and language were administered to all participants. RESULTS: A moderate correlation was found between the “Duration” and “Correct Quantities” variables of VST and visuospatial function and general cognitive status composite Z scores across SVD-CI patients. “Duration” and “Correct Money” variables were moderately related to memory, executive functions, and visuospatial function composite Z scores across SVD-CN patients. A combination of all VST variables discriminated SVD-CI and HC with a correct classification rate of 81%, a sensitivity of 78%, and a specificity of 84%. CONCLUSION: This study is the first to evaluate cognitive functions employing the VST in SVD with and without cognitive impairment. It provides encouraging preliminary findings of the utility of the VST as a screening tool in the assessment of cognitive impairment and the differentiation of SVD patients from HC. In the future, validation studies of the VST with larger samples are needed.