Differences among patients with Alzheimer's disease, older adults with mild cognitive impairment and healthy older adults in finger dexterity

Aim: We have developed a smart terminal device for screening finger function, and investigated the capability of this tool for detecting abnormalities of finger dexterity. Methods: Finger dexterity was measured for 31 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD group), 15 people diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI group) and 48 family members (healthy older adult group) as the control. Cognitive function was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination. Results: There were significant differences between the AD and control group in response time, rhythm and contact duration (P ≤ 0.05), and a negative correlation was identified between contact duration and Mini-Mental State Examination score (−0.36 to −0.5; P ≤ 0.05). Also, there were significant differences between the AD and MCI group in response time and contact duration (P ≤ 0.05). Discussion: These results show that declines in finger dexterity can reflect declining cognitive function, and that measurement of finger dexterity using our smart terminal device can facilitate screening of large groups for MCI or AD. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2018; 18: 907–914.