title: Verbal naming test for use with older adults: development and initial validation.
abstract: Naming or word-finding tasks are a mainstay of the typical neuropsychological evaluation, particularly with older adults. However, many older adults have significant visual impairment and there are currently no such word-finding tasks developed for use with older visually impaired populations. This study presents a verbal, non-visual measure of word-finding for use in the evaluation of older adults with possible dysnomia. Stimuli were chosen based on their frequency of usage in everyday spoken language. A 60-item scale was created and given to 131 older Veterans. Rasch analyses were conducted and differential item functioning assessed to eliminate poorly-performing items. The final 55-item scale had a coefficient alpha of 0.84 and correlated with the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery Naming test, r=0.84, p<.01, Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) Category Fluency, r=0.45, p<.01, and the D-KEFS Letter Fluency, r=0.40, p<.01. ROC analyses found the measure to have sensitivity of 79% and specificity of 85% for detecting dysnomia. Patients with dysnomia performed worse on the measure than patients with intact word-finding, t(84)=8.2, p<.001. Patients with no cognitive impairment performed significantly better than patients with mild cognitive impairment, who performed significantly better than patients with dementia. This new measure shows promise in the neuropsychological evaluation of word-finding ability in older adults with or without visual impairment. Future directions include the development of a shorter version and the generation of additional normative data.
authors: 1VA Palo Alto Health Care System,Palo Alto,California.
authors: Brian P
authors: BP
authors: Yochim
authors: 1VA Palo Alto Health Care System,Palo Alto,California.
authors: Sherry A
authors: SA
authors: Beaudreau
authors: 1VA Palo Alto Health Care System,Palo Alto,California.
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Kaci Fairchild
authors: 1VA Palo Alto Health Care System,Palo Alto,California.
authors: Maya V
authors: MV
authors: Yutsis
authors: 1VA Palo Alto Health Care System,Palo Alto,California.
authors: Neda
authors: N
authors: Raymond
authors: 1VA Palo Alto Health Care System,Palo Alto,California.
authors: Leah
authors: L
authors: Friedman
authors: 1VA Palo Alto Health Care System,Palo Alto,California.
authors: Jerome
authors: J
authors: Yesavage
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment / Q000502:physiology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009275:Names; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011594:Psychometrics; D012372:ROC Curve; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology; D014728:Veterans; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Sensitivity and specificity