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[Variability of the Boston test for the diagnosis of aphasia in active working adults]
D A Pineda1, S E Mejía, M Rosselli
1Programa de Neurociencias de Antioquia, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de San Buenaventura.
Introduction:
The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of age, gender, socioeconomic status (SES), academic achievement (education), and type of occupation, on the performance of the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination (BDAE) Spanish version.
Material And Methods:
The BDAE was administered to a group of 156, 19 to 60 years old, occupationally active normal subjects.
Results:
A descriptive analysis showed that some subjects (1 to 3%) scored in the pathological range of the centiles and profiles of the BDAE. A MANOVA (p < 0.05) demonstrated a significant effect of education over most of the BDAE subtests. Females outperformed males on some reading and writing subtests. SES had an effect over body part identification and naming. Significant differences were observed between younger and middle age groups in confrontation naming, oral and word picture reading. The older group scored significantly lower than the younger group in serial writing and sentences to dictation. No differences were observed between the older and the middle groups. Only oral spelling was affected by the type of occupation but a significant interaction of occupation and level of education was found.
Conclusions:
Language tests are influenced by demographic variables, particularly education. Normal variability on the BDAE should be considered when dealing with clinical populations.