Online cognitive testing with Asian older adults during the Covid-19 pandemic: A proof-of-feasibility study

Online cognitive testing has become more commonly used in both research and clinical settings, especially since the movement restrictions linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, this online testing format is believed to pose significant challenges for older adults (OA). Although recent research with Western OAs has shown encouraging results, data from non-Western countries is still scarce. Here we tested the feasibility of a protocol of online testing of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT) on a sample of 120 Asian older adults living in Malaysia during the Covid-19 pandemic. We found that our participants’ online performance was either similar or even superior to existing norms and we also observed that their performance was mainly predicted by education levels. Depressive symptoms and subjective social position had only a limited effect on performance. These results provide a proof of concept that carefully designed protocols can enable Asian older adults from a middle-income country to obtain robust performances on standard cognitive tests delivered in an online format.