Department of Neurology.
Department of Psychology, University of California-Davis.
Neuropsychology. 2011 Mar;25(2):260-269. doi: 10.1037/a0021090.
Comparability of meaning of neuropsychological test results across ethnic, linguistic, and cultural groups is important for clinicians challenged with assessing increasing numbers of older ethnic minorities. We examined the dimensional structure of a neuropsychological test battery in linguistically and demographically diverse older adults.
The Spanish and English Neuropsychological Assessment Scales (SENAS), developed to provide psychometrically sound measures of cognition for multiethnic and multilingual applications, was administered to a community dwelling sample of 760 Whites, 443 African Americans, 451 English-speaking Hispanics, and 882 Spanish-speaking Hispanics. Cognitive function spanned a broad range from normal to mildly impaired to demented. Multiple group confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine equivalence of the dimensional structure for the SENAS across the groups defined by language and ethnicity.
Covariance among 16 SENAS tests was best explained by five cognitive dimensions corresponding to episodic memory, semantic memory/language, spatial ability, attention/working memory, and verbal fluency. Multiple Group confirmatory factor analysis supported a common dimensional structure in the diverse groups. Measures of episodic memory showed the most compelling evidence of measurement equivalence across groups. Measurement equivalence was observed for most but not all measures of semantic memory/language and spatial ability. Measures of attention/working memory defined a common dimension in the different groups, but results suggest that scores are not strictly comparable across groups.
These results support the applicability of the SENAS for use with multiethnic and bilingual older adults, and more broadly, provide evidence of similar dimensions of cognition in the groups represented in the study.
对于面临评估越来越多的老年少数民族患者的临床医生来说，神经心理学测试结果在不同种族、语言和文化群体之间的意义可比性非常重要。我们研究了一组语言和人口统计学上多样化的老年人神经心理测试组合的维度结构。
西班牙语和英语神经心理评估量表（SENAS）是为多民族和多语言应用提供心理测量可靠的认知测量而开发的，该量表被用于 760 名白人、443 名非裔美国人、451 名讲英语的西班牙裔和 882 名讲西班牙语的西班牙裔社区居民。认知功能涵盖了从正常到轻度受损到痴呆的广泛范围。多组验证性因子分析用于检验 SENAS 在语言和种族定义的群体中维度结构的等效性。
16 项 SENAS 测试之间的协方差最好由五个认知维度来解释，分别对应于情景记忆、语义记忆/语言、空间能力、注意力/工作记忆和语言流畅性。多组验证性因子分析支持在不同群体中存在共同的维度结构。情景记忆测量最有力地证明了在各群体中具有测量等效性。在语义记忆/语言和空间能力方面，大多数但不是所有测量都观察到了测量等效性。注意力/工作记忆测量在不同群体中定义了一个共同的维度，但结果表明，各群体之间的分数并非完全可比。
这些结果支持 SENAS 可用于多民族和双语老年人，更广泛地说，为研究中所代表的群体具有相似认知维度提供了证据。
