Purpose. The ability to manage technology is important for performance and participation in everyday activities. This study compares the management of technology in everyday activities among people with mild-stage dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) with older adults without known cognitive impairment (OA). Method. Persons with mild-stage dementia (n = 38), MCI (n = 33) and OA (n = 45) were observed and interviewed when managing their everyday technology at home by using the Management of Everyday Technology Assessment (META). A computer application of a Rasch measurement model was used to generate measures of participants' ability to manage technology. These measures were compared groupwise with ANCOVA. Results. The management of everyday technology was significantly more challenging for the samples with mild-stage Alzheimer's disease (AD) or MCI compared to the OA sample (AD – OA, p <0.001; d = 1.87, MCI – OA, p <0.001; d = 0.66). The sample with MCI demonstrated a significantly higher ability to manage technology than the sample with mild-stage AD (AD – MCI, p <0.001; d = 1.23). However, there were overlaps between the groups and decreased ability appeared in all groups. Conclusions. Persons with cognitive impairment are likely to have decreased ability to manage everyday technology. Since their decreased ability can have disabling consequences, ability to manage technology is important to consider when assessing ability to perform everyday activities.

Background: Daily functioning of people with cognitive disorders such as mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is usually depicted by retrospective questionnaires, which can be memory-biased and neglect fluctuations over time or contexts.Objective: This study examines the feasibility and usability of applying the experience sampling method (ESM) in people with MCI to provide a detailed and dynamic picture of behavioral, emotional, and cognitive patterns in everyday life.Methods: For 6 consecutive days, 21 people with MCI used an ESM app on their smartphones. At 8 semi-random timepoints per day, participants filled in momentary questionnaires on mood, activities, social context, and subjective cognitive complaints. Feasibility was determined through self-reports and observable human-technology interactions. Usability was demonstrated on an individual and group level.Results: Of the 21 participants, 3 dropped out due to forgetting to carry their smartphones or forgetting the study instructions. In the remaining 18 individuals, the compliance rate was high, at 78.7%. Participants reported that momentary questions reflected their daily experiences well. Of the 18 participants, 13 (72%) experienced the increase in awareness of their own memory functions as pleasant or neutral.Conclusions: Support was found for the general feasibility of smartphone-based experience sampling in people with MCI. However, many older adults with MCI are currently not in possession of smartphones, and study adherence seems challenging for a minority of individuals. Momentary data can increase the insights into daily patterns and may guide the person-tailored development of self-management strategies in clinical settings.

Background: Increasingly services and interventions involve everyday information communication technologies (EICTs) in provision, however use of EICTs among people with dementia is little known. Therefore this study aimed to investigate the relevance, use, and ability to use EICTs between a group of older adults with dementia and a comparison group with no known cognitive impairment. Method: Interviews with 35 people with dementia, 34 comparison participants using the standardised Everyday Technology Use Questionnaire. Variables were compared using descriptive statistics, t-tests and correlation analyses. Results: Median 7 EICTs (maximum 31) were relevant to the group with dementia; significantly less than the comparison group’s 11 (p<0.05, d=0.64). The difference in use appeared more pronounced (group with dementia 5, comparison group 10.5; p<0.001, d=0.93). Large, significant relationships were evident between ability to use technology, and relevant or used EICTs in the group with dementia. No such relationships in the comparison group. Conclusion: Differences in the amounts of EICTs relevant and used among people with and without dementia are further reflected in the dementia group’s ability to use technology. Accommodating the demands that EICTs place on users and harnessing the dominant EICT relevancies and abilities of people with dementia better contributes towards an inclusive, dementia-friendly society.

Background: The ability to manage everyday technology (ET), such as computers and microwave ovens, is increasingly required in the performance of everyday activities and participation in society. This study aimed to identify aspects that influence the ability to manage ET among older adults with and without cognitive impairment.Methods: Older adults with mild Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment and without known cognitive impairment were assessed as they managed their ET at home. Data were collected using the Management of Everyday Technology Assessment (META). Rasch-based measures of the person's ability to manage ET were analyzed. These measures were used as dependent variables in backward procedure ANOVA analyses. Different predefined aspects that could influence the ability to manage ET were used as independent variables.Results: Three aspects had a significant effect upon the ability to manage ET. These were: (1) variability in intrapersonal capacities (such as “the capacity to pay attention and focus”, (2) environmental characteristics (such as “the impact of the design”) and (3) diagnostic group.Conclusions: Variability in intrapersonal capacities seems to be of more importance than the actual level of intrapersonal capacity in relation to the ability to manage ET for this sample. This implies that investigations of ability to manage ET should also include intraperson variability. Additionally, adaptations in environmental characteristics could simplify the management of ET to support older adults as technology users.

Background: To use valid subjective reports sensible to cognitive decline is vital to identify very early signs of dementia development. Use of everyday technology (ET) has been shown to be sensitive to differentiate adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) from controls, but the group with subjective cognitive impairment (SCI) has not yet been examined. This study aims to investigate and compare self-perceived ability in ET use and number of ETs reported as actually used in a sample of older adults with SCI, MCI, and older adults with no known cognitive impairment, i.e. controls. Methods: Older adults with MCI (n = 29), SCI ( n = 26), and controls (n = 30) were interviewed with the short version of the Everyday Technology Use Questionnaire (S-ETUQ) to capture self-perceived ability in ET use and number of ETs used. To generate individual measures of ability to use ET, Rasch analysis was used. The measures were then compared group-wise using ANCOVA. The numbers of ETs used were compared group-wise with ANOVA. Results: Controls versus SCI and MCI differed significantly regarding ETs reported as used, but not SCI versus MCI. Similarly, in ability to use ET, controls versus SCI and MCI differed significantly but not SCI versus MCI. Conclusions: The significantly lower numbers of ETs reported as actually used and the lower ability in SCI and MCI groups compared to controls suggest that ET use is affected already in very minor cognitive decline. This indicates that self-reported ET use based on the S-ETUQ is sensitive to detect changes already in SCI.