Exploring Scaffolding Techniques for Agent-Administered Brief Cognitive Screening in Hospital Settings

Dingdong Liu, Sensen Gao, Zixin Chen, Yifan Shen, Chuhan Shi, Bertram E. Shi, Xiaojuan Ma

Abstract: Cognitive screening in hospitalized older patients is a critical, yet time-consuming process. While conversational agents present a promising solution to aid clinicians, current models fall short in their ability to scaffold questions to accommodate patients with potential cognitive decline effectively. To bridge this gap, we conducted a study with 13 clinicians to identify effective scaffolding strategies empirically. Our findings revealed six key strategies that clinicians use to scaffold the Abbreviated Mental Test (AMT) in practice, together with the underlying rationale and potential challenges. We discuss the implications of these findings for the design of conversational agents to assist in cognitive screening and propose design considerations for future research.