Comparison of Neuropsychological Test Scores among English and Spanish Speakers
  
   Lead Investigator:    Lilah Besser
   Institution      :    University of Washington - NACC
   E-Mail           :    lmbesser@uw.edu
   Proposal ID      :    200


   Publications:


1  Besser LM, Monsell S, Kukull WA
   Comparison of Neuropsychological Test Scores among English and Spanish Speakers in a Multi-regional Sample of Cognitively Normal Subjects
   Abstract  Alzheimers Dement,8:P548,2012,

   PUBLISHED





   Proposal Description:
   Background: Few studies have examined whether neuropsychological test scores vary by primary language of patients, and no known studies have examined the impact of primary language and test language simultaneously.   Methods: Data on 338 Spanish???speaking and 8,374 English???speaking, cognitively normal subjects were obtained from the 33 Centers contributing to the National Alzheimers Coordinating Centers Uniform Data Set (UDS). Each of the neuropsychological tests in the UDS were treated as an outcome variable in 11 separate multivariable models, controlling for age (years), sex, race (White, Black, other), and education (0???12 years, 13???16 years, 17+ years). A language???test variable was constructed to differentiate English speakers who tested in English (Eng???Eng), Spanish speakers who tested in English (Sp???Eng), and Spanish speakers who tested in Spanish (Sp???Sp). Multiple linear regression was conducted using Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) to account for clustering by Center. Possible interaction between the language???test variable and education was evaluated. To account for multiple comparisons, a Bonferroni correction was applied and resulted in the use of an alpha level <0.005 to test for statistical significance.