Test-retest reliability of spatial navigation in adults at-risk of Alzheimer’s disease

• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0239077
• Publication Date: 2020-09-22T22:49:41Z
• Authors: Gillian Coughlan; Vaisakh Puthusser...; Ellen Lowry; Rachel Gillings; Hugo Spiers; Anne-Marie Minihane; Michael Hornberger
• Keywords: Male; Heredity; Science; Memory, Episodic; Neuropsychological Tests; 03 medical and health sciences; Spatial memory; Cognition; Sex Factors; 0302 clinical medicine; Memory; Neuropsychology; Alzheimer Disease; Risk Factors; Genetics; Humans; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Aged; Q; Neuropsychological testing; R; Alzheimer's disease; Middle Aged; 3. Good health; Cognitive impairment; Medicine; Female; Research Article; Spatial Navigation

The Virtual Supermarket Task (VST) and Sea Hero Quest detect high-genetic-risk Alzheimer`s disease (AD). We aimed to determine their test-retest reliability in a preclinical AD population. Over two time points, separated by an 18-month period, 59 cognitively healthy individuals underwent a neuropsychological and spatial navigation assessment. At baseline, participants were classified as low-genetic-risk of AD or high-genetic-risk of AD. We calculated two-way mixed effects intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for task parameters and used repeated measures ANOVAS to determine whether genetic risk or sex contributed to test-retest variability. The egocentric parameter of the VST measure showed the highest test-retest reliability (ICC = .72), followed by the SHQ distance travelled parameter (ICC = .50). Post hoc longitudinal analysis showed that boundary-based navigation predicts worsening episodic memory concerns in high-risk (F = 5.01, P = 0.03), but in not low-risk, AD candidates. The VST and the Sea Hero Quest produced parameters with acceptable test-retest reliability. Further research in larger sample sizes is desirable.