Digital health tools and point solutions—pitfalls in population health program measurement

Digital health tools are generally poorly regulated and often lack strong research evidence, posing challenges for purchasers of point solutions such as employer groups and

Crisis support teams’ technological openness and learning attitudes toward the AI based virtual patient system crisis support VR

BackgroundAgainst the backdrop of escalating global humanitarian crises, innovative didactic simulations are becoming increasingly important. A promising alternative to traditional classroom-based didactics for learning psychological

Ensemble based in transfer learning for cytological classification in pleural fluid

Pleural effusion cytology is critical for diagnosing benign and malignant conditions, yet manual interpretation remains time-consuming and prone to subjectivity. The increasing burden of malignant

From Engel’s Bio-Psycho-Social model to the personalized health determinants model: a comprehensive framework and illustrative operationalization for precision health

Engel’s Bio-Psycho-Social (BPS) model (1977) reframed healthcare by integrating biological, psychological, and social perspectives. Despite its influence, the model has been criticized for insufficient specificity

Advancing women’s health through equity in quantitative sciences: promoting sex- and gender-based modeling in clinical trials and real-world studies

Post Content

Development and Preliminary Validation of ORCA-PD, an Online Rapid Cognitive Assessment for Parkinson Disease: Mixed Methods Study

June 8, 2026

Background: Traditional in-person neuropsychological tests for Parkinson disease (PD) lack accessibility, scalability, and PD specificity. Mobility impairments hinder access to in-person assessments, and long waiting times for expert evaluation limit scalability. Common tools for cognitive screening, such as the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, are generic and not specific to PD. Objective: The goal of this study was to address these challenges by leveraging the internet. This study aimed to develop a sensitive tool to detect cognitive impairments in early- to mid-stage PD in an accessible and scalable manner. Methods: We developed the Online Rapid Cognitive Assessment for Parkinson’s Disease (ORCA-PD), a brief (~15 min), fully self-administered tool, tailored to detect PD-specific impairments remotely. In a cross-sectional study, 112 participants from diverse geographical locations completed the ORCA-PD and a usability questionnaire. Task selection for ORCA-PD was guided by meta-analyses and comprehensive reviews, which demonstrated medium-to-high sensitivity to PD compared to healthy controls. Results: Participants from more than 30 geographical locations showed a 93% (135/145) completion rate, with median usability ratings of 4 to 5 (IQRs 0-1) out of 5, indicating strong usability across a diverse sample. The ORCA-PD score significantly correlated with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment score (ρ=0.45, 95% CI 0.21-0.64; <.001; n=56), supporting convergent validity. The ORCA-PD scores also followed expected significant trends: neurotypical controls scored higher than participants with PD (β=4.18; =.048) and participants with PD without mild cognitive impairment scored higher than participants with PD with mild cognitive impairment (β=7.22; =.046), confirming 2 discriminative abilities. Conclusions: ORCA-PD demonstrated usability and preliminary validity. ORCA-PD offers an accessible, scalable, and PD-sensitive cognitive screening test that could complement traditional in-person, supervised tools.

Subscribe for Updates

Copyright 2025 dijee Intelligence Ltd. dijee Intelligence Ltd. is a private limited company registered in England and Wales at Media House, Sopers Road, Cuffley, Hertfordshire, EN6 4RY, UK registration number 16808844