![]() ![]() ![]() Descriptive statistics by years of education, gender, age and occupation were reported. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 16.0) was used to analyse the data obtained. In our study, we excluded participants with known history of major psychiatric or neurological illness. All participants completed a semi-structured interview schedule, the Indian version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (HMSE), a measure of activity of daily living (EASI) and the modified MINI Screen, followed by the Digit span test. Further, each item has two trials.Īll research participants were assessed individually by a trained clinical neuropsychologist (RT). 2 It consists of 6 items each for forward and reverse assessments, respectively. Higher score on the EASI indicates greater overall disability.ĭigit span: This is a test of attention/short-term memory involving strings/series of digits (numbers) of varying length. 13 We used this scale to screen participants with difficulties in activities of daily living. In this study, the HMSE was used to screen participants with cognitive impairment (≤19 for 0 to 5 years of schooling <25 for 6 years or higher).Įveryday Abilities Scale for India (EASI): This is a 12-item brief measure of activities of daily living with norms, and is appropriate for use in evaluating dementia (together with other tests) in elderly people in India. 12 HMSE is a modified version of Mini-Mental State Examination validated for the Indian population. Hindi Mental Status Examination (HMSE): The HMSE is a global cognitive screen, adapted for Indian older adults. Socio-demographic data sheet: A basic datasheet was used to collect socio-demographic details such as age, sex, date of birth, language, income, address, urban/rural, presence or absence of known physical, neurological or psychiatric illness, past psychiatric/neurological consultation, medication history, and presence of any physical health problem. In this study, we explored the usefulness of the digit span test for Indian older adults with heterogeneous educational background. 5, 6, 11 To the best of our knowledge, there is no study with regard to the cultural validity and usefulness of digit span tests for Indian older participants. There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that older healthy participants from developing countries perform poorly on neuropsychological measures 4, 8, 10 and, therefore, examining cultural validity for neuropsychological measures has been recommended by some researchers. ![]() The Digit span test is widely used in Indian settings by researchers as well as clinicians to assess attention and working memory. 4, 8 There are several empirical studies from the Indian subcontinent indicating that older participants perform poorly on several cognitive tests. 4 - 7 It has been observed that Indian older participants are less familiar with psychological testing, feel anxious and may perform poorly on psychological tests. However, available research on other cognitive tests indicates that higher educational level is associated with better performance on several cognitive tests. 4, 5 There is a paucity of research on the usefulness of the digit span, especially amongst elderly. 1 - 5 Indian older adults differ from western counterparts in terms of culture, literacy and exposure to psychological testing. It has been demonstrated that culture and demographic variables can affect performance on the Digit span test. 3 Better performance on the Digit span test hinges more on the integrity of the left hemisphere than on either right-hemisphere or diffuse damage. Performance on the Digit span test requires auditory attention as well as short-term verbal memory. The test involves reading out a series of strings of digits to the participants who are required to repeat them in the same or reverse order of presentation. 1 The Digit span test comprises both digit forward and digit backward conditions. 1 - 3 It is quick, portable and easy to use, often forming an integral part of neuropsychological examinations and the mental state examination. The digit span test is widely used to assess attention-concentration and working memory. ![]()
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