Neurocognitive Assessment of Ecuadorian Andean Children Living at High Altitude in the Cotopaxi Mountain Region

Previous studies have reported neurocognitive deficits in persons living at high altitudes. This study was conducted to assess the neurocognitive performance of children who have resided their entire lives at altitudes of 3500 to 4200 meters in the Ecuadorian Andes. Neurocognitive performance was assessed with the Raven Coloured Progressive Matrices (RCPM) and the Digit Span (DS), tests which are reported to have minimal cultural bias. RCPM results were calculated for the Ecuadorian children for four different RCPM standardized test norms. For the British norms, a mean standard score of 2.9 (SD: 1.6; median: 2.4) was calculated, and for the United States norms, the mean standard score was 2.9 (SD: 1.8; median: 2.8), which was not significantly different from the British norms (p = 0.628).