Van der Elst Wim, Van Boxtel Martin P J, Van Breukelen Gerard J P, Jolles Jelle
Maastricht Brain and Behaviour Institute, European Graduate School of Neuroscience, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2008 Jan;14(1):71-80. doi: 10.1017/S1355617708080028.
Serial neuropsychological assessment is often conducted to monitor changes in the cognitive abilities of individuals over time. Because practice effects occur and the reliability of test scores is less than perfect, it is difficult to judge whether varying test results should be attributed to chance trends or to real changes in underlying cognitive abilities. In a large sample of adults (age range, 49-81 years), we evaluated the influence of age, gender, and education on test-retest changes in performance after 3 years on Rey's Verbal Learning Test (VLT), the Stroop Color-Word Test (SCWT), and the Letter Digit Substitution Test (LDST). A new statistical method was applied to assess the significance of changes in test performance (i.e., the regression-based change method). The results showed that test-retest changes differed as a function of age for the VLT Total recall 1-3, VLT Total recall 1-5, VLT Delayed recall, and LDST measures. An age x gender interaction was found for the SCWT Interference change score, suggesting that the age-related decline in executive functioning after 3 years was more pronounced for males than for females. A normative change table with appropriate corrections for the relevant independent variables was established.
通常会进行系列神经心理学评估，以监测个体认知能力随时间的变化。由于存在练习效应且测试分数的可靠性并非完美无缺，因此很难判断不同的测试结果应归因于偶然趋势还是潜在认知能力的实际变化。在一大群成年人（年龄范围为49 - 81岁）中，我们评估了年龄、性别和教育程度对3年后雷伊言语学习测验（VLT）、斯特鲁普色词测验（SCWT）和字母数字替换测验（LDST）重测成绩变化的影响。我们应用了一种新的统计方法来评估测试成绩变化的显著性（即基于回归的变化方法）。结果显示，对于VLT总回忆1 - 3、VLT总回忆1 - 5、VLT延迟回忆和LDST测量，重测变化因年龄而异。在SCWT干扰变化分数上发现了年龄×性别交互作用，这表明3年后男性执行功能与年龄相关的下降比女性更为明显。我们建立了一个针对相关自变量进行适当校正的常模变化表。
