This study aimed to obtain standard scores of the CogEvo (Total Brain Care CO., Ltd., Kobe, Japan), which is a computer-based cognitive function assessment tool, for healthy middle-aged and older people and to investigate the usefulness of the CogEvo in detecting the group below the MoCA-J reference point. This study was an exploratory secondary data analysis and a cross-sectional study. Two datasets were used in this study; Data 1 was secondary data of the CogEvo scores in the general public collected by Total Brain Care CO., Ltd. This big data included 726 to 1421 participants, varying in number for each CogEvo task. Data 2 was the secondary data from a RCT including the CogEvo scores, the MoCA-J scores for the 20 participants. In data 1, all tasks showed statistically significant differences between age groups. Multiple comparisons showing significantly lower scores in the 60s compared to the 40s only in “Flashing light” task, although all other task scores were significantly lower than those in their 70s or 80s. Then, the first quartile of the CogEvo task scores for each age group in Data 1 was determined as cut-off points in order to investigate CogEvo’s sensitivity and specificity for detecting MoCA-J≤ 25 group in Data 2. The sensitivity and specificity were 66.7% and 63.6%, respectively, and these were not so high. However, "Flashing light" scores began to decline in the 60s, suggesting that the CogEvo may be useful for detecting age-related neuromotor cognitive decline in healthy middle-aged and older adults.

This study was an exploratory secondary data analysis and a cross-sectional study. It was approved by the Ethics Committee of Showa University (Approval No. 2023-111-B). Two datasets were used in this study. Data 1 were scores of the CogEvo provided by Total Brain Care CO., Ltd (Data 1). Data 2 included 20 participants and these were the secondary data of the RCT “Effectiveness of an Application Software SoroTouch in Middle and advanced age people” (Data 2). 

Data 1

Data 1 were secondary data obtained by Total Brain Care CO., Ltd. All participants conducted the CogEvo as part of preventive care services in 10 municipalities in Japan and agreed to have their data used in the research before CogEvo was performed. The exclusion criteria were as follows: 1) age less than 40 or more than 100; 2) performing CogEvo for the second or later time; and 3) performing other than five basic tasks (“Flashing Lights,” “Follow the Order,” “Orientation,” “Route 99,” and “Same Shape”). The data were anonymized and included only the scores of the CogEvo, age, and sex because they were secondary data. These data were collected on a task-by-task basis, and it was not known which task was performed by each individual participant. In addition, some participants performed tasks other than the five basic tasks. Hence, the total scores from the five basic CogEvo tasks were unknown.

Data 2

Data 2 were the baseline data of the RCT “Effectiveness of an Application Software SoroTouch in Middle and advanced age people”, and the participants were 20 individuals (6 men, 14 women) aged 42–79 years who were recruited from the participants of community-based activities for reducing the risk of dementia held by the Niyokatsu general incorporated association. They were different from the participants in Data 1. The participants had never been diagnosed with dementia nor MCI, and were able to come to the office of the general incorporated association alone. Cognitive function was evaluated using the CogEvo and the MoCA-J before the intervention in the RCT. We obtained the participants’ scores of the CogEvo and MoCA-J, and their demographic and clinical characteristics. The study population included 6 male and 14 female participants (mean age, 63.5 ± 11.0 years; range, 42–79 years).