Tablet test detects cognitive impairment in older Ugandans
In 563 older adults in Uganda, a brief tablet-based composite score discriminated objective cognitive impairment with a c-statistic of 0.77.
medRxiv
In a cohort of 563 older adults in southwestern Uganda, researchers evaluated a translated and culturally adapted digital cognitive assessment tool. Participants had a mean age of 60 years, 50% were female, 49% were living with HIV, and 51% had not completed primary school. Investigators administered four adapted tests from the Tablet-based Cognitive Assessment Tool (TabCAT) alongside an established reference-standard battery.
The TabCAT tests showed no notable floor or ceiling effects, and scores correlated with age and education as expected. Test scores correlated more strongly with reference assessments measuring memory and executive function than with those measuring motor domains. Overall, the TabCAT composite score discriminated objective cognitive impairment with a c-statistic of 0.77 (95% CI 0.72-0.81), maintaining diagnostic performance among participants living with HIV.
Why it matters
Sub-Saharan Africa faces a growing burden of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. Automated, non-specialist digital tools could expand cognitive screening across low-resource settings and populations with limited literacy.
Caveats
The findings are derived from a single regional observational cohort in Uganda, and the study is a preprint that has not yet been peer-reviewed.
The paper
Adaptation and Validation of Brief Tablet-Based Cognitive Assessment Tool in Uganda
Show 20 more authors
Robert Paul, Noeline Nakasujja, Zahra Reynolds, Flavia Atwiine, Edna Tindimwebwa, M. A. Greene, Eliza J. Passell, Christine Seel Ritchie, Susanne S. Hoeppner, Alexander C. Tsai, Janet Seeley, Amy Werry, Emi Varfaj, Sudha S. Seshadri, Samson Okello, Stephen Asiimwe, Deanna Saylor, Katherine L. Possin, Elena Tsoy, Mark Jacob Siedner,The University of Texas at San Antonio Health Science Center
medRxiv · 23 Sep 2026 · Preprint, not peer-reviewed
