de Leon Jessica, Bondoc Ivan, Mamuyac Eugenie, Posecion Lainie, Europa Eduardo, Kintanar Lolita C, Roco Niecholle, Lamoca Mikkael, Escueta Danielle P, Park Van M Ta
Memory and Aging Center Department of Neurology University of California San Francisco San Francisco California USA.
Department of Linguistics University of Toronto Toronto Ontario Canada.
Alzheimers Dement (N Y). 2023 Sep 1;9(3):e12418. doi: 10.1002/trc2.12418. eCollection 2023 Jul-Sep.
Filipino Americans are one of the largest Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) populations in the United States (US). Previous studies suggest that Filipino Americans have one of the highest incidence rates of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) among AAPI subgroups. Despite the expected increase in Filipino Americans with ADRD, no studies to-date have validated neuropsychological measures in the United States for speakers of Tagalog, a major language spoken by Filipino Americans. A significant barrier to dementia care and diagnosis is the lack of linguistically and socioculturally appropriate cognitive tasks for Tagalog speakers. To address this need, we developed and piloted the Cognitive Assessment for Tagalog Speakers (CATS), the first neuropsychological battery for the detection of ADRD in Filipino American Tagalog speakers.
Based on evidence-based neuropsychological batteries, we adapted and constructed tasks to measure performance across 4 main cognitive domains: visual/verbal memory, visuospatial functioning, speech and language, and frontal/executive functioning. Tasks were developed with a team of bilingual English/Tagalog, bicultural Filipino American/Canadian experts, including a neurologist, speech-language pathologist, linguist, and neuropsychologist. We recruited Tagalog-speaking participants of age 50+ through social media advertisements and recruitment registries for this cross-sectional study. We present the CATS design and protocol.
To-date, the CATS battery has been administered to 26 healthy control participants (age 64.5 ± 7.8 years, 18F/8 M) at an academic institution in Northern California, United States. The development and administration of the CATS battery demonstrated its feasibility but also highlighted the need to consider the effects of bilingualism, language typology, and cultural factors in result interpretation.
The CATS battery provides a mechanism for cognitive assessment of Filipino Americans, a population that has been underrepresented in ADRD research. As we move toward the treatment and cure of ADRD, linguistically and socioculturally appropriate cognitive tests become even more important for equitable care.
菲律宾裔美国人是美国最大的亚裔美国人和太平洋岛民（AAPI）群体之一。先前的研究表明，在AAPI亚组中，菲律宾裔美国人患阿尔茨海默病及相关痴呆症（ADRD）的发病率是最高的之一。尽管预计患有ADRD的菲律宾裔美国人数量会增加，但迄今为止，在美国尚未有研究验证针对菲律宾裔美国人主要使用的语言他加禄语使用者的神经心理学测量方法。痴呆症护理和诊断的一个重大障碍是缺乏适合他加禄语使用者的语言和社会文化方面的认知任务。为满足这一需求，我们开发并试点了针对他加禄语使用者的认知评估（CATS），这是首个用于检测菲律宾裔美国他加禄语使用者ADRD的神经心理测验组合。
基于循证神经心理测验组合，我们改编并构建了任务，以测量四个主要认知领域的表现：视觉/言语记忆、视觉空间功能、言语和语言以及额叶/执行功能。任务由一组英语/他加禄语双语、菲律宾裔美国/加拿大双文化专家团队开发，包括一名神经科医生、一名言语语言病理学家、一名语言学家和一名神经心理学家。我们通过社交媒体广告和招募登记处招募了50岁及以上的说他加禄语的参与者进行这项横断面研究。我们展示了CATS的设计和方案。
迄今为止，CATS测验组合已在美国北加利福尼亚州的一所学术机构对26名健康对照参与者（年龄64.5±7.8岁，18名女性/8名男性）进行了测试。CATS测验组合的开发和实施证明了其可行性，但也突出了在结果解释中需要考虑双语、语言类型学和文化因素的影响。
CATS测验组合为菲律宾裔美国人的认知评估提供了一种机制，而菲律宾裔美国人在ADRD研究中的代表性一直不足。随着我们朝着ADRD的治疗和治愈迈进，语言和社会文化方面合适的认知测试对于公平护理变得更加重要。
