Indian adaptation of the Cognistat: Psychometric properties of a cognitive screening tool for patients of traumatic brain injury

The present study was aimed at adapting the cognitive screening tool 'Cognistats2019; (Neurobehavioral Cognitive Status Exam) for use with the Indian community. As a part of the Indian adaptation of the test, the 'screen and metric' approach of assessment was eliminated. However, the screening item of the construction sub-test has been retained as a separate sub-test for evaluating immediate visual memory. Culturally irrelevant test items were identified under the, repetition, naming, memory, similarities and judgment sub-tests. Changes were made to these items on the basis of recommendation of 7 psychologists of Indian origin. The psychometric properties of the scale were evaluated in a sample of 30 patients with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and 55 demographically matched healthy controls. The internal consistency of the test was high (Cronbach's alpha = 0.94). The test was found to have acceptable inter- rater and test-retest reliability. The concurrent validity of the test was established by comparing the performance of patients on MMSE and sub-tests of the Indian adaptation of Cognistat The test was found to have high discriminative validity as there was a significant difference in the performance of patients and controls on all subtests (p<.001). The adaptation of Cognistat provides the Indian population with a highly valuable cognitive screening tool.