Assessing the construct validity of cross-national harmonized cognitive assessments using age.
14 affiliations
- 1Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD USA.
- 2Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA USA.
- 3Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA USA.
- 4Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA USA.
- 5Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI USA.
- 6Department of Neurology, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI USA.
- 7Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI USA.
- 8Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI USA.
- 9Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI USA.
- 10Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, School of Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI USA.
- 11Department of Health Management and Policy, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI USA.
- 12Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI USA.
- 13Center for Economic and Social Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California USA.
- 14Department of Economics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA USA.
Abstract
Harmonized cognitive measures are key to cross-national comparisons of dementia risk. However, validating such measures cross-nationally is challenging due to differences in cognitive measures and a lack of a reference standard. Age, a characteristic strongly associated with cognition and widely measured, can serve as a benchmark for evaluating how well harmonized cognitive measures are broadly compatible with a common construct. We used cross-nationally harmonized measures from three studies in the US and five studies in England, Chile, Mexico, India, and South Africa (N = 27,317). Study-specific estimates of the association between general cognitive scores and age ranged from -0.040 to -0.075 SD units/year of age. The coefficient of variation was 24.1%, indicating moderate relative variability. Results support the hypothesis that cross-nationally harmonized scores, derived from partially overlapping test batteries, measure a broadly similar construct across countries. Future studies should further evaluate criterion, construct, and content validity of cognitive testing in cross-national populations.
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BibTeX
@article{mani2026assessing,
title = {{Assessing the construct validity of cross-national harmonized cognitive assessments using age.}},
author = {Sneha Sarah Mani and M Maria Glymour and Eleanor Hayes-Larson and Richard L Jones and Lindsay C Kobayashi and Zachary J Kunicki and Kenneth M Langa and Jinkook Lee and Emma Nichols and Jennifer Weuve and Alden L Gross},
journal = {NPJ dementia},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1038/s44400-026-00143-2},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42928768},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Assessing the construct validity of cross-national harmonized cognitive assessments using age.
AU - Sneha Sarah Mani
AU - M Maria Glymour
AU - Eleanor Hayes-Larson
AU - Richard L Jones
AU - Lindsay C Kobayashi
AU - Zachary J Kunicki
AU - Kenneth M Langa
AU - Jinkook Lee
AU - Emma Nichols
AU - Jennifer Weuve
AU - Alden L Gross
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/24
JO - NPJ dementia
DO - 10.1038/s44400-026-00143-2
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42928768
AB - Harmonized cognitive measures are key to cross-national comparisons of dementia risk. However, validating such measures cross-nationally is challenging due to differences in cognitive measures and a lack of a reference standard. Age, a characteristic strongly associated with cognition and widely measured, can serve as a benchmark for evaluating how well harmonized cognitive measures are broadly compatible with a common construct. We used cross-nationally harmonized measures from three studies in the US and five studies in England, Chile, Mexico, India, and South Africa (N = 27,317). Study-specific estimates of the association between general cognitive scores and age ranged from -0.040 to -0.075 SD units/year of age. The coefficient of variation was 24.1%, indicating moderate relative variability. Results support the hypothesis that cross-nationally harmonized scores, derived from partially overlapping test batteries, measure a broadly similar construct across countries. Future studies should further evaluate criterion, construct, and content validity of cognitive testing in cross-national populations.
SN - 3005-1940
ER -