COGNITO (Computerized assessment of adult information processing): Normative scores for a rural Indian population from the SANSCOG study.

Introduction: Neuropsychological assessments are inexpensive and efficient methods to understand the cognitive abilities of individuals in research studies and clinical settings. Normative scores for such measures are crucial in serving as a reference standard for identifying cognitively healthy and impaired individuals belonging to similar sociodemographic characteristics.

Methods: Study subjects in rural India recruited into the Srinivaspura Aging, Neuro Senescence and Cognition (SANSCOG) study were administered the COGNITO battery of tests, which traverse cognitive domains of attention, memory, language, and visuospatial abilities. Percentile norms based on age and education stratification were derived for the above cohort.

Results: Percentile norms are commensurate with literacy levels in this population. The percentile scores for the cognitive tests show a decline for the individuals aged 75 years and above indicating lower cognitive functioning in this age group.

Discussion: This is the first-ever study reporting norms for diverse cognitive domains for illiterate, literate, low-literate individuals enrolled in a large-scale community-based cohort study in rural India.