Compromised visually guided motor control in individuals with Alzheimer's disease: can reliable distinctions be observed?

Identifying the multitude of deficits associated with dementia-related illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) presents a significant challenge for many health care facilities, particularly as current screening procedures may lack the sensitivity to highlight all the relative functional deficits within these populations. Although quick assessment screening tools, such as the Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE), have been the mainstay in screening patients worldwide, there are limitations to their ability in identifying visuomotor (VM) impairment. Thus, the primary objective of this research was to evaluate the presence and level of VM ability/deficits in healthy normal controls (NC) and populations with AD. The research also aimed to demonstrate that a VM measure can be utilized successfully in a busy health care setting. Results showed a clear distinction between the AD and NC groups on the VM measure. Large effect size differences were observed between groups, particularly as the VM task progressed through its varying conditions. In addition, this novel VM assessment measure demonstrated good presentation and speed and was appropriate for frontline staff in a primary healthcare setting to undertake further examination of an individual's overall visually guided ability/control.