Performance of elderly Native Americans and Caucasians on the CERAD Neuropsychological Battery.
The performance of 40 elderly Native Americans and 40 demographically similar Caucasians clinically diagnosed with Alzheimer disease were compared on the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease Neuropsychological Battery (CERAD-NB). The purpose was to determine whether performance on the CERAD-NB, a cognitive screening battery used to evaluate dementia in the elderly, is affected by cultural differences between these two groups, after controlling for age, education, and gender. All subjects were administered the CERAD-NB as part of a standard diagnostic evaluation. Statistical analyses revealed no significant differences between the two groups on any measures from the CERAD-NB. Thus, the CERAD-NB appears to be an efficient cognitive screening assessment in English-speaking Native Americans with known or suspected dementing illness and it appears that special norms may not be necessary in this population. However, additional studies of larger samples are needed for confirmation and to explore factors such as education, acculturation, and degree of Native American heritage, which may influence cognitive test performance.
Whyte
Shannon R
SR
Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390-8846, USA.
Cullum
C Munro
CM
Hynan
Linda S
LS
Lacritz
Laura H
LH
Rosenberg
Roger N
RN
Weiner
Myron F
MF
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology*