Previously submitted to: JMIR Mental Health (no longer under consideration since Feb 24, 2026)
Date Submitted: Feb 23, 2026
Open Peer Review Period: Feb 24, 2026 - Feb 24, 2026
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AI-powered mobile application for targeting depression and neurocognition in older adults: Preliminary Investigation
ABSTRACT
Background:
Older adults in South Korea have a high prevalence of depression (13.5%) and mild cognitive impairment (28.42%), but their utilization of mental health services remains low compared to other age groups. Even when aware of their mental health issues, help-seeking is often delayed for more than two years. While online psychological services have been proposed as a means to improve accessibility, unsuitable user interfaces pose barriers for older adults with limited mobile literacy. Furthermore, limited research has tested the potential of mobile health apps for improving older adults’ mental health.
Objective:
To address these challenges, this study developed a cognitive and autobiographical memory training application (app) with senior friendly user interface(UI)/user experience(UX) and feedback from a chatbot-based artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm. We explored its applicability, feasibility, and preliminary effects on improving mental health and neurocognitive function among older adults.
Methods:
A total of 46 participants were recruited via community centers; 26 participants met the inclusion criteria and 23 were included in the final analysis. We gathered interview-based user experience questionnaires and application usage statistics (e.g., usage frequency and duration) to test acceptance. For the preliminary efficacy test, depressive symptoms, cognitive function, and autobiographical memory were measured pre- and post- intervention, and the data were analyzed using a paired-sample t-test.
Results:
The results showed low dropout rates (11.5%) and high acceptance (average=4.05 out of 5.00) with the app. During the two-week intervention, participants used the app for an average of 8.17 days. They spent 164 minutes across 172 sessions engaging in cognitive exercises, and completed the autobiographical memory exercise 17.17 times. After using the app, depressive symptoms significantly decreased, while verbal and working memory significantly increased. There was a marginally significant improvement in autobiographical memory specificity.
Conclusions:
This study developed a mobile app aiming to enhance the mental health and cognitive function of older adults; its characteristics were designed specifically for this group. The application was well accepted with low dropout rates and high satisfaction; it shows promise in improving both depression and cognitive function among this population.
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