Geriatric performance on the Neurobehavioral Cognitive Status Examination (Cognistat). What is normal?

The Neurobehavioral Cognitive Status Examination (Cognistat) is a widely used cognitive screening measure that has been utilized in several clinical studies with a geriatric population. However, there has been relatively little normative research since its original publication. The objective of this study was to develop age-corrected norms for Cognistat. One hundred and fifty healthy participants aged 60-85 were recruited, all of whom spoke English fluently. Twenty-seven peoples met at least one exclusionary criterion and were therefore excluded. The participants were administered Cognistat along with measures of IQ, depression, alcohol usage, and activity level. Data were not normally distributed; therefore, analysis of these data was completed using descriptive statistics and the nonparametric bootstrapping technique. Study results provide age-corrected profiles that differ significantly from and extend the originally published norms.