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Mayo Normative Studies: Regression-Based Normative Data for the Auditory Verbal Learning Test for Ages 30–91 Years and the Importance of Adjusting for Sex

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 August 2020

Nikki H. Stricker*
Affiliation:
Division of Neurocognitive Disorders, Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
Teresa J. Christianson
Affiliation:
Department of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
Emily S. Lundt
Affiliation:
Department of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
Eva C. Alden
Affiliation:
Division of Neurocognitive Disorders, Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
Mary M. Machulda
Affiliation:
Division of Neurocognitive Disorders, Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
Julie A. Fields
Affiliation:
Division of Neurocognitive Disorders, Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
Walter K. Kremers
Affiliation:
Department of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
Clifford R. Jack Jr.
Affiliation:
Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
David S. Knopman
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
Michelle M. Mielke
Affiliation:
Department of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
Ronald C. Petersen
Affiliation:
Department of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
*
*Correspondence and reprint requests to: Nikki H. Stricker, PhD, LP, Division of Neurocognitive Disorders, Mayo Clinic, 200 First St SW, Rochester, MN55905, USA. Tel: +1 507-284-2649; Fax: +1 507-284-4158. Email: stricker.nikki@mayo.edu

Abstract

Objective:

Rey’s Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) is a widely used word list memory test. We update normative data to include adjustment for verbal memory performance differences between men and women and illustrate the effect of this sex adjustment and the importance of excluding participants with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) from normative samples.

Method:

This study advances the Mayo’s Older Americans Normative Studies (MOANS) by using a new population-based sample through the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging, which randomly samples residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota, from age- and sex-stratified groups. Regression-based normative T-score formulas were derived from 4428 cognitively unimpaired adults aged 30–91 years. Fully adjusted T-scores correct for age, sex, and education. We also derived T-scores that correct for (1) age or (2) age and sex. Test-retest reliability data are provided.

Results:

From raw score analyses, sex explained a significant amount of variance in performance above and beyond age (8–10%). Applying original age-adjusted MOANS norms to the current sample resulted in significantly fewer-than-expected participants with low delayed recall performance, particularly in women. After application of new T-scores adjusted only for age, even in normative data derived from this sample, these age-adjusted T-scores showed scores <40 T occurred more frequently among men and less frequently among women relative to T-scores that also adjusted for sex.

Conclusions:

Our findings highlight the importance of using normative data that adjust for sex with measures of verbal memory and provide new normative data that allow for this adjustment for the AVLT.

Type
Regular Research
Copyright
Copyright © INS. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2020

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Footnotes

Table 1 and Appendix used with permission of Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research; all rights reserved.

Portions of this manuscript were presented as a poster at the 17th Annual American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology, Chicago, Illinois, June 5–8, 2019. Portions of this manuscript were presented at the 39th Annual National Academy of Neuropsychology Conference, San Diego, California, November 14, 2019. Portions of this manuscript and the figures were presented at the internal Mayo Clinic Neuropsychology Multi-Site Seminar, April 8, 2020, Rochester, Minnesota.

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