Adaptation and Translation of the Brain Fog Scale into the Indian Psycho-Socio-Cultural Context.

BACKGROUND

Brain fog is a subjective experience characterised by forgetfulness, poor concentration, mental slowness, dissociation and fatigue, with individuals describing experiences such as a 'mental wall' over formerly simple tasks. During and after the 2019 pandemic, scientific enquiry into brain fog was revived, explored and studied worldwide. Specifically, a large number of studies focused on the COVID-19 population and established strong associations with long COVID. Further, this in-depth research interest has led to the emergence of brain fog as a transdiagnostic factor.

PURPOSE: Over the past half-decade, given the said and established facts, the majority of scientific evidence has been contributed by researchers outside India. This highlights that brain fog is subjectively experienced worldwide, but its objective expression varies. Given the existing literature gap, the present article focuses on developing the psychometric properties of the Brain Fog Scale (BFS) and on adapting and translating it into Hindi.

METHODS

For this purpose, a set of data was collected from participants (N = 159) with a mean age of 32.5 years, including representation from both genders. Standardised measures, the original and translated forms of the BFS, along with quality of life (QoL), were administered.

RESULTS

Principal component analysis revealed a refined 26-item, two-component structure comprising Psychophysiological Brain Fog (PsyPhyBF) and Cognitive Brain Fog, accounting for 52.8% of the total variance. The adapted scale demonstrated excellent internal consistency, with Cronbach's alpha coefficients of 0.91 and 0.92 for the two components, respectively, and 0.95 for the overall scale. Both dimensions of brain fog demonstrated significant negative associations with QoL, with PsyPhyBF emerging as a significant predictor of poorer QoL.

CONCLUSION

The findings support the reliability and construct validity of the adapted Hindi version of the BFS and highlight the importance of culturally sensitive assessment tools for understanding subjective cognitive experiences in diverse populations.