title: Modified-Symbol Digit Modalities Test for African Americans, Caribbean Black Americans, and non-Latino Whites: nationally representative normative data from the National Survey of American Life.
abstract: Normative neuropsychological data for U.S. racial/ethnic minorities are limited. Extant norms are based on small, regional groups that may not be nationally representative. The objectives of this study were to (1) provide norms for a modified Symbol Digit Modalities Test (M-SDMT) based on a nationally representative sample of African Americans, Caribbean Blacks, and non-Latino Whites (NLW) living in areas with large populations of Blacks; and (2) determine significant correlates of M-SDMT performance. The M-SDMT was administered to a subset of respondents from the National Survey of American Life in standard face-to-face interviews. M-SDMT performance was influenced by race/ethnicity, age, education, and gender. African Americans and NLW groups had similar M-SDMT performances, which differed from Caribbean Blacks. The Black ethnic differences in M-SDMT were not explained by the sociodemographic factors considered in this study. Unlike previous work, this study supports the consideration of Black ethnicity when evaluating Black neuropsychological test performance.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Gerontology and the School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine, Wayne State University, 87 East Ferry Street, Detroit, MI 48202, USA. hmgonzalez@med.wayne.edu
authors.forename: Hector M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: González
authors.forename: Keith E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Whitfield
authors.forename: Brady T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: West
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Peter A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Lichtenberg
authors.forename: James S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Jackson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001288:Attention; D044383:Black People / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011340:Problem Solving; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012016:Reference Values; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology*; D001741:Black or African American