Adaptation and preliminary validation of the Cognitive Reserve Index Questionnaire (CRIq) for the Malayalam-speaking population

Cognitive Reserve (CR) is the brain's ability to preserve cognitive functioning despite aging or brain injury, based on life experience, such as education, occupation, and social activities. Commonly, CR is assessed using measures like the Cognitive Reserve Index questionnaire (CRIq), which is reliable across researchers and clinicians. To broaden its usage in the Indian context, the present study undertook the cultural adaptation of CRIq for the Malayalam-speaking population. The study was conducted in three phases: adaptation, translation, and validation of CRIq. Items identified as culturally not suitable during adaptation were removed. Systematic forward-backward translation was employed, and the linguistic accuracy was verified by experts. The final version was administered to 162 healthy Malayalam-speaking individuals across the young, middle, and older age groups. The data were subjected to suitable statistical tests. CRI-Total scores derived from CRIq differed substantially between age groups, with middle-aged adults scoring slightly better compared to young and older adults. In addition, a correlation between sub-sections of CRIq with total-CRI was noted. The Malayalam translation of the CRIq showed good test-retest reliability for assessing CR. The study signifies the importance of culturally adapted tools for the assessment of CR.