María J Marquine1, Alejandra Morlett Paredes1, Cecilia Madriaga2, Yanina Blumstein2, Anya Umlauf1, Lily Kamalyan1,3, Monica Rivera Mindt4, Paola Suarez5, Lidia Artiola I Fortuni6, Robert K Heaton1, Mariana Cherner1. 1. Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA. 2. Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay. 3. Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA. 4. Department of Psychology and Latin American and Latina/o Studies Institute, Fordham University & Department of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA. 5. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA. 6. Private Practice, Barcelona, Spain.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Verbal fluency tests are sensitive to various disorders affecting the central nervous system and are commonly included in neuropsychological evaluations. We aimed to develop normative data for two verbal fluency tests in a sample of native Spanish-speakers living in the US-Mexico border region. METHOD: Participants included 254 adults from the Neuropsychological Norms for the US-Mexico Border Region in Spanish (NP-NUMBRS) Project (Age: range = 19-60; Education: range = 0-20, 59% female). Participants completed two verbal fluency tests (i.e., letter [PMR] and semantic/category fluency [Animal Naming]) as part of a larger neuropsychological test battery. We examined linear and nonlinear effects of demographic factors (age, education, and gender) on verbal fluency raw scores, and developed T-scores using fractional polynomial equations controlling for demographics. We also calculated the rates of "impairment" (T-scores < 40) that would be obtained by applying the newly developed norms and available norms for non-Hispanic English-speakers on comparable tests. RESULTS: There were positive small effects of age and medium effects of education on verbal fluency raw scores. The normalized distribution of T-scores with the new norms showed expected psychometric properties. However, rates of impairment for both letter and semantic fluency were significantly higher when applying non-Hispanic White norms, and significantly lower when applying non-Hispanic Black norms. CONCLUSIONS: We provide norms for Spanish-speakers living along the US-Mexico border region for two verbal fluency tests that are co-normed with a more extensive neuropsychological battery. These regional norms will improve interpretation of verbal fluency test performance in Spanish-speakers living in the US-Mexico borderland.
OBJECTIVE: Verbal fluency tests are sensitive to various disorders affecting the central nervous system and are commonly included in neuropsychological evaluations. We aimed to develop normative data for two verbal fluency tests in a sample of native Spanish-speakers living in the US-Mexico border region. METHOD: Participants included 254 adults from the Neuropsychological Norms for the US-Mexico Border Region in Spanish (NP-NUMBRS) Project (Age: range = 19-60; Education: range = 0-20, 59% female). Participants completed two verbal fluency tests (i.e., letter [PMR] and semantic/category fluency [Animal Naming]) as part of a larger neuropsychological test battery. We examined linear and nonlinear effects of demographic factors (age, education, and gender) on verbal fluency raw scores, and developed T-scores using fractional polynomial equations controlling for demographics. We also calculated the rates of "impairment" (T-scores < 40) that would be obtained by applying the newly developed norms and available norms for non-Hispanic English-speakers on comparable tests. RESULTS: There were positive small effects of age and medium effects of education on verbal fluency raw scores. The normalized distribution of T-scores with the new norms showed expected psychometric properties. However, rates of impairment for both letter and semantic fluency were significantly higher when applying non-Hispanic White norms, and significantly lower when applying non-Hispanic Black norms. CONCLUSIONS: We provide norms for Spanish-speakers living along the US-Mexico border region for two verbal fluency tests that are co-normed with a more extensive neuropsychological battery. These regional norms will improve interpretation of verbal fluency test performance in Spanish-speakers living in the US-Mexico borderland.
Authors: A Acevedo; D A Loewenstein; W W Barker; D G Harwood; C Luis; M Bravo; D A Hurwitz; H Aguero; L Greenfield; R Duara Journal: J Int Neuropsychol Soc Date: 2000-11 Impact factor: 2.892
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Authors: Adam Wysokiński; Krzysztof Zboralski; Agata Orzechowska; Piotr Gałecki; Antoni Florkowski; Monika Talarowska Journal: Arch Med Sci Date: 2010-06-30 Impact factor: 3.318
Authors: Anne Heaton; Amanda Gooding; Mariana Cherner; Anya Umlauf; Donald R Franklin; Monica Rivera Mindt; Paola Suárez; Lidia Artiola I Fortuni; Robert K Heaton; María J Marquine Journal: Clin Neuropsychol Date: 2020-02-20 Impact factor: 4.373