When cognitive efficiency meets life satisfaction in late adulthood: Insights from DIGICOG-MS performance among Sardinian older adults.

Life satisfaction is a key component of successful aging. This study investigated the correlates of life satisfaction in a sample of 127 older adults (Mage = 73.1 years, SD = 5.4) from Sardinia, an Italian island known for successful aging. Participants were assessed for global cognitive efficiency, perceived health, lifestyle habits, life satisfaction, and specific cognitive functions using the digital screening tool DIGICOG-MS. After controlling for age, education, and global cognitive efficiency, life satisfaction was significantly associated with perceived health, time spent on hobbies, verbal semantic fluency, auditory verbal learning, and immediate recall via DIGICOG-MS. A hierarchical regression analysis showed that perceived physical health, time spent on hobbies, verbal fluency, auditory verbal learning, and immediate recall were significant predictors of life satisfaction, accounting for approximately 20% of the variance (Adjusted R2 = 0.198, F(8,117) = 4.860, p < .001). Interestingly, greater usability of DIGICOG-MS was associated with lower levels of education, suggesting that the tool is highly intuitive and successfully mitigates the educational barriers often encountered in traditional paper-and-pencil neuropsychological assessments. In conclusion, these findings highlight the role of subjective health, engagement in leisure activities, executive functions, auditory verbal learning, and immediate recall in shaping life satisfaction in late adulthood, supporting the potential of DIGICOG-MS as a tool for community-based cognitive screening in older populations.