Establishment of age- and sex-stratified normative data for the Brief Assessment of Cognition (BAC) app in healthy Japanese individuals

The Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) and its Japanese version are widely used instruments for the brief and efficient assessment of cognitive domains commonly impaired in schizophrenia. A tablet-administered version, the Brief Assessment of Cognition (BAC) App, has been developed; however, normative data for the BAC App have not yet been established for the general Japanese population. This cross-sectional study aimed to establish normative data for the Japanese version of the BAC App in healthy Japanese individuals. A total of 120 participants aged 12–69 years were recruited, with 10 male and 10 female participants in each of six age groups. Cognitive performance was assessed using BAC App subtests, and mean scores and standard deviations were calculated for each age- and sex-defined subgroup. Most subtests showed stable performance distributions across age groups. No notable differences between forms were observed for the Tower of London Task. In contrast, a substantial difference between forms was observed for the Verbal Memory Task, with higher recall performance for Form 3. Structural characteristics of the word lists may contribute to form-dependent differences; therefore, form-related effects should be considered when interpreting verbal memory performance. Overall, this study provides age- and sex-stratified normative data for the Japanese version of the BAC App, supporting its standardized use as a digital cognitive assessment tool.