Development of a computer assisted cognitive test battery for testing cognitive function in the Tamil speaking older adults above 55 years of age

Abstract

To develop an Android OS based application and to standardize the administration and scoring of a comprehensive cognitive test battery Tamil Arithiran Mathipeedu Battery TAM Battery in Tamil language to assess cognitive function in Tamil speaking older adults above 55 years of age To develop a comprehensive cognitive test battery in Tamil language as an Android OS based application To develop the test battery manual with standardized administration and scoring instructions To evaluate the psychometric properties of the test battery There were two phases to this research phase 1 which included identifying tests developing new tests developing the test battery application and the test administration and scoring manual Phase 2 included testing the battery and its psychometric properties in the target population The development of the TAM battery was in accordance to the prescribed guidelines of the international test commission for translating and adapting tests The TAM Battery showed good clinical and concurrent validity All the tests except the Figural Memory Test showed robust test retest reliability The symptom validity measures especially the standalone test Visual Association Test showed good sensitivity to suboptimal performance The Assessment of Premorbid Cognitive Abilities APCA score proved to be a good objective baseline measure of cognitive function better than traditionally used demographic details The Figural Memory Test and the Word List Learning Test proved to be the best tests at detecting MCI Test performance showed gradual decline with increasing age in the neurotypical group in agreement with prior literature Test performance was better with increasing number of years of formal education and with increasing APCA Score newline