Cognitive-load of activities for Māori and non-Māori: a New Zealand consensus

Introduction: To estimate the cognitive-load of self-reported physical and cognitive activities by New Zealand’s (NZ) indigenous population (Māori) and non‑Māori from the Life and Living in Advanced Age‑Cohort Study New Zealand (LiLACS NZ). Methods: Three-round panel Delphi exercise in NZ involving six panellists across an expert rater group and a peer-rater agroup of Māori and non‑Māori respectively, via web-based and face‑to‑face discussion. Results: In Round i (pre-Delphi exercise) the investigator group, gathered and categorised data from LiLACS NZ and developed a 9-point Likert-scale to rate the cognitive-load. Round ii panellists each rated the cognitive‑load of each activity. If a priori specified criteria were not met, then round iii involved a face‑to‑face meeting to discuss and re-rate activities on which consensus was lacking. Conclusions: Māori reached consensus in round ii while non‑Māori did so in round iii. Panellists provided a formal consensus-based cognitive-load rating for 181 activities separately for Māori and non‑Māori. Keywords: three to five keywords: Delphi Technique, physical activity, ageing, cognitive activity