Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
J Am Geriatr Soc. 2021 Jul;69(7):1971-1981. doi: 10.1111/jgs.17209. Epub 2021 May 7.
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Assessment of cognition in linguistically diverse aging populations is a growing need. Bilingualism may complicate cognitive measurement precision, and bilingualism may vary across Hispanic/Latinx sub-populations. We examined the association among bilingualism, assessment language, and cognitive screening performance in a primarily non-immigrant Mexican American community.
Prospective, community-based cohort study: The Brain Attack Surveillance in Corpus Christi (BASIC)-Cognitive study.
Nueces County, Texas.
Community-dwelling Mexican Americans age 65+, recruited door-to-door using a two-stage area probability sampling procedure.
Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA); self-reported bilingualism scale. Participants were classified as monolingual, Spanish dominant bilingual, English dominant bilingual, or balanced bilingual based upon bilingualism scale responses. Linear regressions examined relationships among bilingualism, demographics, cognitive assessment language, and MoCA scores.
The analytic sample included 547 Mexican American participants (60% female). Fifty-eight percent were classified as balanced bilingual, the majority (88.6%) of whom selected assessment in English. Balanced bilinguals that completed the MoCA in English performed better than balanced bilinguals that completed the MoCA in Spanish (b = -4.0, p < 0.05). Among balanced bilinguals that took the MoCA in Spanish, education outside of the United States was associated with better performance (b = 4.4, p < 0.001). Adjusting for demographics and education, we found no association between the degree of bilingualism and MoCA performance (p's > 0.10).
Bilingualism is important to consider in cognitive aging studies in linguistically diverse communities. Future research should examine whether cognitive test language selection affects cognitive measurement precision in balanced bilinguals.
背景/目的：评估语言多样化的老年人群的认知能力是一个日益增长的需求。双语可能会使认知测量的精确性变得复杂，而且双语可能在西班牙裔/拉丁裔亚人群体中有所不同。我们研究了双语、评估语言和认知筛查表现之间的关联，研究对象是一个主要由非移民墨西哥裔美国人组成的社区。
前瞻性、基于社区的队列研究：科珀斯克里斯蒂脑卒中超监测（BASIC）-认知研究。
德克萨斯州纽西斯县。
社区居住的 65 岁以上墨西哥裔美国人，通过两阶段区域概率抽样程序逐户招募。
蒙特利尔认知评估（MoCA）；自我报告的双语量表。参与者根据双语量表的回答被分为单语、西班牙语主导双语、英语主导双语或平衡双语。线性回归检验了双语、人口统计学、认知评估语言和 MoCA 分数之间的关系。
分析样本包括 547 名墨西哥裔美国参与者（60%为女性）。58%的人被归类为平衡双语者，其中大多数（88.6%）选择用英语进行评估。用英语完成 MoCA 的平衡双语者的表现优于用西班牙语完成 MoCA 的平衡双语者（b=-4.0，p<0.05）。在使用西班牙语完成 MoCA 的平衡双语者中，在美国以外接受教育与更好的表现相关（b=4.4，p<0.001）。调整人口统计学和教育因素后，我们发现双语程度与 MoCA 表现之间没有关联（p 值均>0.10）。
在语言多样化社区的认知老龄化研究中，双语是一个重要的考虑因素。未来的研究应该检验认知测试语言的选择是否会影响平衡双语者的认知测量精度。
