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Lexical Decision Task for Studying Written Word Recognition in Adults with and without Dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment
Published on: June 25, 2019
Normative data for semantic verbal fluency in older Taiwanese adults: Implications for mild cognitive impairment
Yu-Chen Chuang1, Jong-Ling Fuh1,2,3
1Division of General Neurology, Department of Neurology, Neurological Institute, Taipei Veterans General Hospitalhttps://ror.org/03ymy8z76, Taipei, Taiwan.
Objective:
This study aimed to update normative data and establish cut-off scores for a fruit-based semantic verbal fluency (SVF) task among older Taiwanese adults as a method for detecting mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The task was chosen due to its familiarity and cultural neutrality for Mandarin-speaking populations.
Method:
SVF performance was evaluated in 245 healthy control participants and 360 individuals diagnosed with MCI. The influence of demographic variables was examined, and regression-based correction formulas were developed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses determined optimal cut-off values according to established clinical classifications of MCI.
Results:
Age, education, and sex significantly influenced SVF performance. A demographically corrected 15th percentile threshold of 10 words was proposed for community screening. An optimal ROC-derived cut-off of 11.5 words yielded an AUC of .716 (95% CI: .68-.76), with sensitivity of 57.8% and specificity of 73.9%. SVF scores were significantly correlated with global cognition, memory, and processing speed.
Conclusions:
The fruit-based SVF task is a quick, culturally relevant tool for detecting early cognitive impairment. Revised norms and cut-off scores can improve MCI identification in Mandarin-speaking seniors.
