There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that older healthy participants from developing countries perform poorly on neuropsychological measures 4, 8, 10 and, therefore, examining cultural validity for neuropsychological measures has been recommended by some researchers. The Digit span test is widely used in Indian settings by researchers as well as clinicians to assess attention and working memory. 4, 8 There are several empirical studies from the Indian subcontinent indicating that older participants perform poorly on several cognitive tests. 4 - 7 It has been observed that Indian older participants are less familiar with psychological testing, feel anxious and may perform poorly on psychological tests. However, available research on other cognitive tests indicates that higher educational level is associated with better performance on several cognitive tests. 4, 5 There is a paucity of research on the usefulness of the digit span, especially amongst elderly. 1 - 5 Indian older adults differ from western counterparts in terms of culture, literacy and exposure to psychological testing. It has been demonstrated that culture and demographic variables can affect performance on the Digit span test. 3 Better performance on the Digit span test hinges more on the integrity of the left hemisphere than on either right-hemisphere or diffuse damage. Performance on the Digit span test requires auditory attention as well as short-term verbal memory. The test involves reading out a series of strings of digits to the participants who are required to repeat them in the same or reverse order of presentation. 1 The Digit span test comprises both digit forward and digit backward conditions.

1 - 3 It is quick, portable and easy to use, often forming an integral part of neuropsychological examinations and the mental state examination. The digit span test is widely used to assess attention-concentration and working memory.

Digit span memory test pdf adult