Educational and gender normative data for the Boston Naming Test in a group of older adults.

The 60-item version of the Boston Naming Test (BNT) was administered to a group of 176 normal older adults in Middle Tennessee ranging in age from 60 to 93 years. Results are reported in five age groupings by gender and education. Although a few studies have previously examined the performance of the elderly on the BNT, the current study attempted to recruit individuals in proportion to the demographics of the regional population including gender, race, and, as much as possible, education and occupation. The results indicate that while age significantly affected confrontational naming ability, the interaction of age and education appeared to be a better predictor of performance. As with previous studies, more variability was found in higher age groups and in those with less education. Naming ability remained stable in the higher education group (> or = 12th grade) until 80 years, whereas those patients with less than a high school education demonstrated a decrement in naming ability at 70 years. Current results also revealed a gender bias for this population, with males scoring higher on 17 of 19 items where a significant difference existed.