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A new verbal learning and memory test for English- and Spanish-speaking older people

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2001

HECTOR M. GONZÁLEZ
Affiliation:
University of Michigan, School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, Ann Arbor, Michigan
DAN MUNGAS
Affiliation:
University of California, Davis, School of Medicine, Department of Neurology, Sacramento Veterans Administration Northern California Health Care System, Martinez
BRUCE R. REED
Affiliation:
University of California, Davis, School of Medicine, Department of Neurology, Sacramento Veterans Administration Northern California Health Care System, Martinez
SARAH MARSHALL
Affiliation:
Berkshire Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry, Pittsfield, Massachusetts
MARY N. HAAN
Affiliation:
University of Michigan, School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Abstract

Word-list verbal learning and memory tests with appropriate normative data can be highly sensitive to cognitive decline, but there are significant limitations of such tests available for use with older Hispanic and non-Hispanic people living in the US. The purpose of this study was to (1) create a new word-list learning and memory test in both English and Spanish and, (2) validate it with respect to sensitivity to cognitive impairment, and (3) develop statistical corrections for the effects of significant demographic variables, including ethnicity, language of administration, age, education, and gender. A community dwelling sample of 801 English- and Spanish-speaking older people was employed. Recall on learning trials and the delayed recall trial of the word-list learning test were strongly related to the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), moderately related to age, and weakly related to gender and education. The relationship of word-list variables and the MMSE did not significantly differ across ethnicity/language groups. Regression coefficients for demographic variables were used in a statistical correction formula to adjust raw word-list scores, and then to develop specific percentile cut-off values. (JINS, 2001, 7, 544–555.)

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2001 The International Neuropsychological Society

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