Validation of ICMR Neurocognitive Toolbox for Dementia in the Linguistically Diverse Context of India.

The growing prevalence of dementia, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), has raised the need for a unified cognitive screening tool that can aid its early detection. The linguistically and educationally diverse population in India contributes to challenges in diagnosis. The present study aimed to assess the validity and diagnostic accuracy of the Indian Council of Medical Research-Neurocognitive Toolbox (ICMR-NCTB), a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery adapted in five languages, for the diagnosis of dementia.

Validation of Indian Council of Medical Research Neurocognitive Tool Box in Diagnosis of Mild Cognitive Impairment in India: Lessons from a Harmonization Process in a Linguistically Diverse Society.

Background/aims: In a linguistically diverse country such as India, challenges remain with regard to diagnosis of early cognitive decline among the elderly, with no prior attempts made to simultaneously validate a comprehensive battery of tests across domains in multiple languages. This study aimed to determine the utility of the Indian Council of Medical Research-Neurocognitive Tool Box (ICMR-NCTB) in the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and its vascular subtype (VaMCI) in 5 Indian languages.

Methods: Literate subjects from 5 centers across the country were recruited using a uniform process, and all subjects were classified based on clinical evaluations and a gold standard test protocol into normal cognition, MCI, and VaMCI.

Standardising Dementia Diagnosis Across Linguistic and Educational Diversity: Study Design of the Indian Council of Medical Research-Neurocognitive Tool Box (ICMR-NCTB).

Objectives: While the burden of dementia is increasing in low- and middle-income countries, there is a low rate of diagnosis and paucity of research in these regions. A major challenge to study dementia is the limited availability of standardised diagnostic tools for use in populations with linguistic and educational diversity. The objectives of the study were to develop a standardised and comprehensive neurocognitive test battery to diagnose dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to varied etiologies, across different languages and educational levels in India, to facilitate research efforts in diverse settings.