Cognitive Telephone Screening Instrument Research Articles

A Comparison of Cognitive Performance, Depressive Symptoms, and Incidence of Falls in Brazilian Older Women with and without a Confirmed History of COVID-19.

The study aimed to compare cognitive performance, depressive symptoms, and the incidence of falls in Brazilian older women with and without a confirmed history of COVID-19. This cross-sectional study included 188 women (60-89 years), divided into two groups: one with a history of COVID-19 (n = 139), and one without any history of COVID-19 (n = 49). The instruments used were the Cognitive Telephone Screening Instrument (COGTEL) test battery, the Trail Making Test (TMT), the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15), and the self-reported history of falls since the beginning of mandatory confinement. The higher the age, the higher the incidence of falls. The highest prevalence of falls (57.1%) occurred in the COVID-19 group (p = 0.001), the members of which also indicated a better cognitive performance in the COGTEL test (p = 0.017), TMT-B (p = 0.004), and ∆TMT (B-A) (p = 0.004). In turn, the depressive symptoms were more severe in the COVID-19 group (p < 0.001). We observed that COVID-19 infection without hospitalization did not affect the cognitive performance of older adult women. Future studies should be carried out to monitor the mental health of older adult Brazilian women. Moreover, regardless of their history of COVID-19, older adults should participate in a physical training program focused on preventing falls.

Low cognitive functioning and depressive symptoms in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and systemic sclerosis: a clinical study

BackgroundRecently, cognitive deficits occurring in rheumatic diseases have attracted scientific attention. Cognitive symptoms in patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) have not been thoroughly studied. This study aimed to assess cognitive function and its relationship with depressive symptoms in RA and SSc and compare it to mild neurocognitive disorder due to Alzheimer’s disease (MiND) and to individuals without cognitive impairment.MethodsCognitive function and depressive symptoms were tapped with the Cognitive Telephone Screening Instrument plus (COGTEL+), the Serial Seven Test (SST), the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Geriatric Depression scale-15 (GDS), respectively. Statistical analyses included between groups-, correlation- and regression analyses. Demographic characteristics were considered in the regression models.ResultsThe study included 30 individuals with RA, 24 with SSc, 26 adults without cognitive impairment and 33 individuals with MiND. Lower performance in verbal short-term memory, concentration/attention, verbal fluency and MMSE in patients with RA compared to individuals without cognitive impairment was detected. Of note, performance on verbal fluency, concentration/attention, inductive reasoning and MMSE was lower in RA compared to MiND. Individuals with SSc performed worse in verbal fluency and in MMSE in comparison to adults without cognitive deficits. Verbal fluency deficits in SSc exceeded that in MiND. Performance on MMSE, COGTEL+, prospective memory, working memory, verbal fluency and concentration/attention was related to GDS scores, which did not vary across the groups.ConclusionsPatients with RA and SSc encountered cognitive dysfunction, which partially pertains to depressive symptoms. Of note, the severity of cognitive dysfunction in many cases exceeded that of MiND.

Online assessment of cognitive functioning across the adult lifespan using the eCOGTEL: a reliable alternative to laboratory testing.

As the population ages, risks for cognitive decline threaten independence and quality of life of older adults. Classically, psychological assessment tools that evaluate cognitive functioning are administered in face-to-face laboratory sessions, which are time- and resource-consuming. The present study set out to examine whether the eCOGTEL—an online adaptation of the Cognitive Telephone Screening Instrument (COGTEL; Kliegel et al. in J Psychol 141(2):147–170, 2007)—represents a reliable measure of cognitive performance in adulthood. Therefore, an age-stratified adult lifespan sample of 253 participants (aged 19–86 years) completed a face-to-face assessment in the laboratory and a self-administered online version, at their homes. A second, independent sample of 176 younger adults (aged 19–30 years) performed a test–retest assessment of the eCOGTEL. Results showed strong correlations between overall cognitive scores assessed online and in the laboratory, as well as a high test–retest reliability. Further, comparable data distributions between both assessment modes underline the feasibility of the eCOGTEL across the adult lifespan and particularly in older age. Our findings thereby indicate that the eCOGTEL can reliably measure cognitive performance across the lifespan at reduced costs, which may help detecting individuals at risk of developing age-related cognitive decline. Due to these strengths, the eCOGTEL represents a valuable contemporary approach for the resource-efficient online assessment of cognition, which may benefit a broad array of fundamental and applied research fields, such as clinical and organizational psychology.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10433-021-00667-x.

200 - Neuropsychiatric symptoms influence performance of activities of daily living in symptomatic Alzheimer’s Disease

Background:The triad of symptom groups of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) encompasses cognitive impairment (e.g. impaired memory or orientation), neuropsychiatric symptoms like apathy, depressive mood, delusions, hallucinations or anxiety, and functional impairment exclusively in complex activities of daily living (cADL, e.g. preparing meals, managing finances) in minor neurocognitive disorder due to AD and both in complex and basic ADL (bADL, e.g. dressing, toileting) in major neurocognitive disorder due to AD. These functional impairments are widely thought to be exclusively attributable to the cognitive deficits of the disease. Of note, mounting evidence indicates that neuropsychiatric symptoms are very common in AD and pose a heavy burden to both patients and their caregivers.Research objective:To unravel potential associations between neuropsychiatric symptoms and cADL and bADL in individuals with neurocognitive disorder due to AD by means of machine learning (ML).Methods:The study included 189 cognitively intact older individuals (CI) and 130 with either minor or major neurocognitive disorder due to AD. Neuropsychiatric symptoms were captured with the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), covering delusions, hallucinations, aggression, depression, anxiety, apathy, elation, disinhibition, irritability, motor disturbance, nighttime behavioural disturbances and appetite disturbances; cognitive function was assessed with the Cognitive Telephone Screening Instrument (COGTEL); The Bristol ADL scale, an informant-rated measure, was employed for tapping performance of ADL. A variety of ML-models was constructed and trained/tested using a 5-fold cross validation, with SMOTE employed as a remedy for class imbalances. In all cases the features had been selected beforehand based on LASSO technique. The dependent variable was either cADL or bADL (after their discretization based on kMeans quantization). Additionally, the modelling of the diagnosis was also attempted within our ML framework.Results:Gradient Boosting models performed superiorly. cADL and bADL levels are predicted based on both deficits in cognitive domains and NPI variables with an accuracy of 82.3% and 84.8% respectively.In addition, diagnosis can be predicted, with an accuracy of 83.5%, based on a model in which NPI and Bristol ADL variables were significant predictors.Conclusions:cADL- and bADL performance in patients with AD is influenced by both cognitive deficits and neuropsychiatric symptoms.

Validation of the Cognitive Telephone Screening Instruments COGTEL and COGTEL+ in Identifying Clinically Diagnosed Neurocognitive Disorder Due to Alzheimer's Disease in a Naturalistic Clinical Setting.

Background: Telephone-based neurocognitive instruments embody valuable tools in identifying cognitive impairment in research settings and lately also in clinical contexts due to the pandemic crisis. The accuracy of the Cognitive Telephone Screening Instrument (COGTEL) in detecting mild- (MiND) and major (MaND) neurocognitive disorder has not been studied yet.Objective:Comparison of the utility of COGTEL and COGTEL+, which is enriched with orientation items, with the modified Mini-Mental State Examination (3MS) in detecting MiND and MaND due to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and assessment of the impact of COGTEL face-to-face-versus telephone administration on individual performance.Methods:The study included 197 cognitively intact individuals (CI), being at least 45 years old, 95 and 65 patients with MiND and MaND due to AD, respectively. In 20 individuals COGTEL was administered both in face-to-face and telephone sessions. Statistical analyses included proportional odds logistic regression models, stratified repeated random subsampling used to recursive partitioning to training and validation set (70/30 ratio), and an appropriate F-test.Results:All studied instruments were significant predictors of diagnostic outcome, but COGTEL+ and 3MS explained more variance relative to the original COGTEL. Except for the validation regression models including COGTEL in which the average misclassification error slightly exceeded 15%, in all other cases the average misclassification errors (%) were lower than 15%. COGTEL administration modality was not related to systematic over- or underestimation of performance on COGTEL.Conclusion:COGTEL+ is a valuable instrument in detecting MiND and MaND and can be administered in face-to-face or telephone sessions.

The Efficacy of a Multicomponent Functional Fitness Program Based on Exergaming on Cognitive Functioning of Healthy Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Regular physical exercise can attenuate age-related cognitive decline. This study aimed to investigate the effect of a physical exercise multicomponent training based on exergames on cognitive functioning (CF) in older adults. This randomized controlled trial included older adults aged 61-78. Participants were randomly allocated to an intervention group (IG; n = 15) or active control group (CG; n = 16). The IG was exposed to a combined training with traditional exercise and exergaming, twice a week over a period of 12 weeks. The CG performed only traditional sessions. CF was assessed by the Cognitive Telephone Screening Instrument. The time points for assessment were at zero (pretest), 12 (posttest), and 17 weeks (follow-up). Active CG and IG increased from pretest to posttest in short-term memory (STM), long-term memory (LTM), and Cognitive Telephone Screening Instrument total score 1.98 > Z < 3.00, ps < .005, with moderately large positive effects (.36 > r < .54). A significant increase was seen from posttest to follow-up in STM, Z = 2.74, p = .006, and LTM, Z = 2.31, p < .021, only in IG. Across the two time periods posttest to follow-up, there were significant interaction effects between program type and time for STM (p = .022, ηp2=.17) and LTM (p = .004, ηp2=.25), demonstrating a more beneficial effect of the exergames intervention compared to the CG. Discussion and Implications: The integration of exergaming in a multicomponent functional fitness exercise might have the potential to maintain and improve CF (in particular, STM and LTM) in older adults.

Face-to-face Assessment of COGTEL in Adolescents: Test-Retest Reliability and Association with School Grades

The Cognitive Telephone Screening Instrument (COGTEL) has shown to be a brief, reliable, and valid instrument to assess cognitive functioning in adults in face-to-face procedures as well as over the phone. So far, no psychometric evaluation exists on its use in adolescents. The present study set out to evaluate the psychometric properties of the face-to-face application of the COGTEL in adolescents in the school context and to analyse the association with school grades. We assessed cognitive performance using COGTEL in face-to-face assessments of 170 adolescents, with retests after 6 months for test-retest reliability. Predictive validity was assessed using school grades. Test-retest reliability for the COGTEL was good (ICC = .77; p &lt; .001). The partial correlation controlling for age between COGTEL and school grades was medium and positive (r = .40; p &lt; .001). School grades alone explained 42% and 36% of the variance in the COGTEL total score in elementary and secondary students, respectively. The present study suggests that COGTEL is a reliable and valid instrument to assess cognitive functioning in adolescents, with the advantage of feasibility in multiple contexts.

Validation of the Cognitive Telephone Screening Instrument (COGTEL) for detecting mild cognitive impairment and dementia due to Alzheimer's disease (AD)

AbstractBackgroundCognitive assessment is necessary for diagnosing cognitive impairment. In epidemiologic surveys and genetic family studies cognitive tests that can be administered over the telephone are valuable tools. The Cognitive Telephone Screening Instrument (COGTEL) is a brief instrument for capturing interindividual differences in cognitive functioning, with the advantage of covering more cognitive domains than traditional screening tools such as the Mini‐mental State Examination (MMSE), as well as differentiating between individual performance levels in healthy older adults. Here, we report first evidence of the utility of the COGTEL in detecting mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease (AD).MethodThe COGTEL was translated into Greek. Thereafter a bilingual expert not familiar with the original COGTEL made a back translation into English. The new version was very similar to the original one. The study refers to 30 and 22 patients with MCI and dementia due to AD, respectively. They fulfilled the international NIA‐AA diagnostic criteria. The study included 45 cognitively normal elderly individuals, too. The COGTEL was compared to the conventional modified Mini Mental State Examination (3MS). They were validated against an expert diagnosis based on a comprehensive diagnostic workup which included the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Statistical analysis was performed using the receiver‐operator‐characteristics (ROC) method.ResultThe COGTEL outperformed the 3MS in the distinction between cognitively unimpaired individuals and patients with MCI (Area under the curve, AUC: 0.94 vs. 0.89), whilst both instruments were excellent in identifying patients suffering from dementia due to AD (AUC in both cases 0.99).ConclusionThe COGTEL is a short, practical and reliable telephone test for the identification of both MCI and dementia due to AD. It can serve as a useful instrument in studying normal cognition and cognitive impairment in aging in both clinical diagnostics and research projects. The lack of difference between COGTEL and 3MS in their capacity to detect dementia due to AD is probably attributable to the fact that healthy aging can in most cases be unambiguously distinguished from dementia due AD, while the distinction between MCI and healthy aging is more ambitious.

Examining Older Adult Cognitive Status in the Time of COVID‐19

Examining Older Adult Cognitive Status in the Time of <scp>COVID</scp>‐19

Long-term health outcomes in survivors after chronic subdural haematoma

Chronic subdural haematoma (CSDH) is the most common neurosurgical presentation among the elderly. Although initially considered a non-threatening event, recent studies have highlighted poor long-term survival post-CSDH. Currently, there is a paucity of information regarding long-term health outcome in survivors after CSDH post-intervention. The objective of this research was to assess long-term functional, cognitive, and mental health outcome after CSDH. CSDH patients were administered a telephone-based assessment including a Demographic Questionnaire, Functional Activities Questionnaire (FAQ), Cognitive Telephone Screening Instrument (COGTEL), Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF), and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Results were obtained in n = 51 patients. CSDH patients were assessed at 5.5 + 2.1 years after CSDH and results were compared to age/gender matched controls (n = 52). Comorbidities were significantly greater in CSDH patients at the time of assessment (χ2 = 35.47, P < .01). CSDH patients demonstrated a significant reduction in functional independence (FAQ, P < .001) and Verbal Short-Term Memory (COGTEL, P = .048). Potential negative trends were observed for Verbal Long-Term Memory (P = .06) and Inductive Reasoning (P = .07). CSDH patients also demonstrated significantly poorer emotional, psychological and social well-being (MHC-SF: Emotional, P = .003; Psychological, P = .001; and Social, P < .001), with increased depressive symptomatology (GDS, P < .001). In addition to known decreased long-term survival, CSDH survivors demonstrated poorer long-term functional, cognitive and mental health outcomes than controls. Pre-existent comorbidities were also more prevalent. CSDH is therefore a sentinel health event: survivors represent a vulnerable group who require long-term, comprehensive, person-centred care. This is the first study of long term CSDH health outcomes.

The Cognitive Telephone Screening Instrument (COGTEL): a reliable and valid tool for the assessment of cognitive functioning in the Brazilian elderly

Abstract Objectives: To study the reliability/stability of the Cognitive Telephone Screening Instrument (COGTEL) for the assessment of cognitive functions, and to investigate the concurrent validity (that is, the relationship between the COGTEL scores and external variables, such as level of education and MMSE results) in a pilot study of elderly persons residing in the community in the municipal regions of Apuí, Fonte Boa and Manaus (Amazonas, Brazil). Method: This pilot study included 90 elderly persons (29 men and 61 women) aged 60-85 years of age [68.2 (± 6.7)]. The COGTEL, the MMSE and socio-economic survey were applied in the form of two interviews, a week apart and under the same conditions. Results: The test-retest intraclass correlation coefficient of the COGTEL total score (and respective six subtests), MMSE and educational level ranged from acceptable to high (0.708 &lt; R &lt;0.946). There was a strong positive correlation between the total score of the COGTEL with the MMSE (r =0.682; p &lt;0.001), as well as with educational level (r =0.604; p &lt;0.001). Conclusion: This study presents preliminary evidence of the reliability/stability and concurrent validity of the COGTEL in the evaluation of cognitive functions in elderly persons residing in the community. The results of this study support the use of COGTEL as a short, reliable and valid instrument for analyzing differences in cognitive functioning in inter-individual studies with elderly persons.

Cognitive function and its associations in older adults from Amazonas, Brazil

&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; The objectives of this study were: (1) to investigate the age-related differences in cognitive function (CF), nutritional status (MNA), physical activity (AF), quality of life (QoL), depression, social satisfaction (SS) and socioeconomic status (SES), and (2) to explore the relationships between CF and the previous variables. This cross sectional study included 268 men and 433 women (aged 71.4 ± 7.0 years). CF was determined with the Cognitive Telephone Screening Instrument (COGTEL) and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Correlates were as follows: Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), PA (Baecke questionnaire modied for older adults), Quality of life (QoL SF- 12), Geriatrics Depression Scale (GDS), Satisfaction and Social Support Scale, and Socioeconomic status (SES). All instruments were applied in a face to face interview. An independent t-test identied signicantly higher scores in young-old adults (≤ 69 years) for CF (p &lt; 0.001), PA (p = 0.046) and SES (p = 0.007), compared to old-old adults (≥ 70 years). e results of multiple linear regression analysis indicated that the most signicant CF correlates were SES (β = 0.45; p &lt; 0.001), age (β = -0.12; p &lt; 0.001), SS (β = 0.12; p = 0.001), GDS (β = -0.11; p = 0.003) and QoL (β = 0.08; p = 0.017). The overall regression model explained 36% of the total variance in the COGTEL. The oldest and the more depressed adults obtained lower scores for FC. The present study suggests that, between the correlates studied, SES was the strongest predictor in the explanation of CF in older adults.&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D;

The Cognitive Telephone Screening Instrument (COGTEL): A Brief, Reliable, and Valid Tool for Capturing Interindividual Differences in Cognitive Functioning in Epidemiological and Aging Studies

Aims: The present study set out to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Cognitive Telephone Screening Instrument (COGTEL) in 2 different samples of older adults. Methods: We assessed COGTEL in 116 older adults, with retest after 7 days to evaluate the test-retest reliability. Moreover, we assessed COGTEL in 868 older adults to evaluate convergent validity to the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Results: Test-retest reliability of the COGTEL total score was good at 0.85 (p < 0.001). Latent variable analyses revealed that COGTEL and MMSE correlated by 0.93 (p < 0.001), indicating convergent validity of the COGTEL. Conclusion: The present analyses suggest COGTEL as a brief, reliable, and valid instrument for capturing interindividual differences in cognitive functioning in epidemiological and aging studies, with the advantage of covering more cognitive domains than traditional screening tools such as the MMSE, as well as differentiating between individual performance levels, in healthy older adults.

Cognitive impairment, all-cause and cause-specific mortality among non-demented older adults.

cognitive impairment is widespread among older adults even in the absence of dementia, but very little is known about the association between cognitive impairment not due or not yet converted to dementia and mortality. The association between cognitive impairment and mortality contributes to assessing cognitive impairment-related risk constellation in old age in the absence of manifest dementia. to assess the impact of cognitive impairment on all-cause and cause-specific mortality among non-demented older adults and to explore the nature of the association between cognitive impairment and mortality. an observational cohort study (ESTHER study; 2000-present). German state of Saarland. a subsample of 1,622 participants aged ≥70 with measurement of cognitive function through the Cognitive Telephone Screening Instrument (COGTEL) and exclusion of a possible dementia diagnosis at both COGTEL baseline (2005-08) and over the mortality follow-up (2005-13). during an average follow-up of 6.1 years, 231 participants (14.2%) died. Participants with low COGTEL total scores had ∼60% increased mortality compared with participants with higher COGTEL total scores in Cox regression models adjusting for a wide range of possible confounders (hazard ratio = 1.62; confidence interval 1.13-2.33). Dose-response analyses with restricted cubic splines indicate a monotonic inverse relationship between cognitive function and mortality. cognitive impairment in the absence of manifest dementia is an important independent predictor of mortality, especially among men. The administration of cognitive tests among older adults may provide relevant information for patient care and treatment decisions. financial sponsors played no role in the design, execution, analysis and interpretation of data.

Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D and Cognitive Decline: A Longitudinal Study among Non-Demented Older Adults

Background/Aims: Very few studies have investigated the longitudinal association between serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] and cognitive impairment not due to dementia. This longitudinal study analysed 25(OH)D and the risk of cognitive decline among non-demented older adults. Methods: A subsample of the ESTHER cohort study, aged ≥70 years, was assessed with the Cognitive Telephone Screening Instrument (COGTEL) and underwent 25(OH)D measurements standardized with a reference method (n = 1,302). After an average follow-up of 4.6 years, 527 participants had repeated COGTEL testing and were eligible for analysis. Linear regression models were used to assess longitudinal associations between 25(OH)D levels and cognitive function. Possible practice effects of repeated cognitive testing were addressed with the reliable change index. Results: A trend of a more pronounced cognitive decline with lower vitamin D levels was observed among both women and men, with a statistically significant difference in COGTEL scores in the lowest vitamin D quintile of the total sample. Conclusions: This study indicates that low levels of vitamin D might be associated with cognitive decline among non-demented elderly individuals and highlights the need for further large-scale prospective studies to clarify the potential role of vitamin D in cognitive function at an old age.

Self- or Physician-reported Diabetes, Glycemia Markers, and Cognitive Functioning in Older Adults in Germany

To assess the association of different diabetes-related variables, including self- and physician-reported information, as well as biomarkers, with cognitive functioning in the elderly general population in Germany. Cross-sectional observational study. A total of 1,697 subjects with a mean ± standard deviation age of 74 ± 2.8 years were included. These were recruited from among the participants of an ongoing epidemiological study of the elderly general population in Saarland state and had been recruited 5 years earlier on the occasion of a health screening exam by their general practitioners. Cognitive functioning across six subdomains was assessed using the Cognitive Telephone Screening Instrument. Data on prevalent diabetes at baseline were obtained from the study participants and their general practitioners. Baseline fasting glucose was assessed as part of the screening exam, and baseline HbA1c was determined centrally by standardized methods. The association of cognitive functioning with self-reported diabetes (N= 189) was more pronounced than with physician-reported diabetes (N= 280). HbA1c showed a nonlinear association with cognitive functioning, with a peak of cognitive performance in the central quintile of HbA1c. In the case of fasting glucose, lower cognitive functioning was only observed in the highest quintile. The estimates were robust in confounder-adjusted models, but attentuated when excluding subjects with baseline prevalent or follow-up incident diabetes. Future studies of diabetes-related biomarkers and cognition should take possible nonlinearity of the relationships into account, as the strength of the associations otherwise might be underestimated.

Large-Scale Application of a Telephone-Based Test of Cognitive Functioning in Older Adults

Aims: The study of cognitive functioning in large epidemiological settings is hampered by a lack of instruments for the remote assessment of cognitive performance, especially when targeting variability across the full range of adult functioning. The present study examined the practicability of such investigations using a recently developed telephone interview (Cognitive Telephone Screening Instrument, COGTEL). Methods: A subcohort of an ongoing epidemiological study in the elderly German population (ESTHER) was interviewed via telephone by trained personnel. These data were combined with sociodemographic information obtained by standardized self-administered questionnaires, and analysed by tabulation, histograms and regression models. Results: A total of 1,697 interviews could be analysed. The eligible participants had a mean age ± standard deviation of 74.0 ± 2.8 years. The COGTEL total scores closely followed a normal distribution with no evidence of a ceiling effect. In adjusted regression models, COGTEL total and subcomponent scores were negatively associated with age and strongly positively with higher education, whereas the association with sex was less consistent. Conclusions: The results suggest that the COGTEL can readily be administered to large study populations and produces plausible and informative results. Education should be considered in all investigations using this instrument and requires further in-depth analyses. Future studies will need to elucidate its associations with risk factors and its prognostic potential for cognitive decline and dementia.

Large-scale application of a telephone-based test of cognitive functioning in older adults

Aims: The study of cognitive functioning in large epidemiological settings is hampered by a lack of instruments for the remote assessment of cognitive performance, especially when targeting variability across the full range of adult functioning. The present study examined the practicability of such investigations using a recently developed telephone interview (Cognitive Telephone Screening Instrument, COGTEL). Methods: A subcohort of an ongoing epidemiological study in the elderly German population (ESTHER) was interviewed via telephone by trained personnel. These data were combined with sociodemographic information obtained by standardized self-administered questionnaires, and analysed by tabulation, histograms and regression models. Results: A total of 1,697 interviews could be analysed. The eligible participants had a mean age ± standard deviation of 74.0 ± 2.8 years. The COGTEL total scores closely followed a normal distribution with no evidence of a ceiling effect. In adjusted regression models, COGTEL total and subcomponent scores were negatively associated with age and strongly positively with higher education, whereas the association with sex was less consistent. Conclusions: The results suggest that the COGTEL can readily be administered to large study populations and produces plausible and informative results. Education should be considered in all investigations using this instrument and requires further in-depth analyses. Future studies will need to elucidate its associations with risk factors and its prognostic potential for cognitive decline and dementia.