Poster Session 11 Program Schedule
02/17/2024
10:45 am - 12:00 pm
Room: Shubert Complex (Posters 1-60)
Poster Session 11: Cultural Neuropsychology | Education/Training | Professional Practice Issues
Final Abstract #24
Semantic Intrusion Errors Overcome the Impact of Literacy and Educational Attainment in Black/ African Americans with and without Mild Cognitive Impairment
Brooke Bosworth, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States
Alexandra Ortega, University of Miami, Miami, United States
Winston Lam, Cornell University, Ithaca, United States
Juliana Ortiz, University of Miami, Miami, United States
Jaylene Sosa, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, United States
Kirsten Crenshaw, University of Miami, Miami, United States
David Loewenstein, University of Miami, Miami, United States
Rosie Curiel, University of Miami, Miami, United States
Category: Cross Cultural Neuropsychology/ Clinical Cultural Neuroscience
Keyword 1: aging disorders
Keyword 2: mild cognitive impairment
Keyword 3: neuropsychological assessment
Objective:
Significant correlations exist between literacy, educational achievement, and cognitive test outcomes. Evaluating individuals with limited literacy and education is challenging due to result ambiguity; distinguishing between diminished cognitive baseline and cognitive decline is complex. We investigated the applicability and precision of the Loewenstein-Acevedo Scales for Semantic Interference and Learning (LASSI-L) test in gauging cognitive decline among individuals with lower literacy and educational achievements. By scrutinizing the LASSI-L's sensitivity within the demographic of lower literacy and educational attainment, this study strives to ascertain its efficacy as a tool for gauging cognitive decline within this group.
Participants and Methods:
Eighty-three African American adults over the age of 60 participated in the study. Forty-three individuals were categorized as having amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), while the remaining 40 were deemed cognitively unimpaired (CU). The Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT IV) was administered to determine their literacy levels, alongside the LASSI-L assessment. Comparative analysis of their performance was conducted among the groups to evaluate the precision and accuracy of LASSI-L, considering different literacy tiers determined by the WRAT-IV results.
Results:
In CU groups, those with higher education/literacy had better performance on Cued Recall tasks had fewer incorrect responses. Literacy, but not years of completed education were strongly associated with the percentage of intrusion errors made in relation to total correct responses on the LASSI-L. Conversely, in aMCI group we observed a less pronounced relationship between these factors and cognitive performance that was not significant.
Conclusions:
While a modest impact of literacy on testing in individuals with aMCI exists, the LASSI-L presents the potential to effectively diagnose those experiencing cognitive decline or aMCI within populations with limited literacy. These results underscore the practicality of employing the LASSI-L to evaluate cognitive deterioration in individuals possessing lower literacy proficiency and presents a promising avenue to bridge the performance disparity.
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