Applicability of an immersive virtual reality system for assessing route learning in older adults.

Spatial orientation is defined as the ability to find one's way around an environment, follow familiar routes, recognize places, and learn new routes. Spatial disorientation is one of the early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and traditional cognitive evaluation lacks ecological validity. Therefore, new assessment methods are needed for the early identification of this cognitive impairment.

Objective: This study aimed to compare the applicability and stability of an immersive virtual reality (VR) system developed to assess route learning between older adults with and without mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Methods: The study sample included 43 older adults: 22 without MCI and 23 with MCI. Applicability was assessed based on the recording of adverse events and the sense of presence reported through questionnaires. The Mann-Whitney U test was applied to compare the applicability of the Spatial Orientation in Immersive Virtual Environment Test (SOIVET)-Route task between older adults with and without MCI. Both short- and long-term stabilities of the task were evaluated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC).

Results: The mean age of participants was 71.4 years (SD=5.5). A minimum number of adverse events (mean=1.46; SD=2.11) and high levels of presence (mean=138.04; SD=14.80) were reported, and there was no difference between groups with and without MCI. A good to excellent correlation was found for short-term stability (CCI 0.78) and a reasonable correlation was found for long-term stability (CCI 0.58).

Conclusions: The VR system was applicable for older adults and showed a good to excellent correlation for short-term stability.