INS NYC 2024 Program

Poster	Poster Session 11 Program Schedule 02/17/2024 10:45 am - 12:00 pm Room: Majestic Complex (Posters 61-120) Poster Session 11: Cultural Neuropsychology \| Education/Training \| Professional Practice Issues Final Abstract #71 The Relationship Between Cognition and Daily Functioning in Older Spanish-speaking Latinos Isabel Muñoz, CSU, Northridge, Northridge, United States Daniel Lopez-Hernandez, UCSD Health, San Diego, United States Seth Almaraz, CSU, Northridge, Northridge, United States Veronica Gutierrez, CSU, Northridge, Northridge, United States Jill Razani, CSU, Northridge, Northridge, United States Category: Cross Cultural Neuropsychology/ Clinical Cultural Neuroscience Keyword 1: activities of daily living Keyword 2: cognitive functioning Keyword 3: aging (normal) Objective: The common language spoken by Latinos other than English is Spanish and the Spanish speaking Latino community is one of the largest in the United States. Past studies have shown that Latinos are at a higher risk of developing mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias compared to Caucasians. Currently there is not enough research on Spanish speaking individuals’ cognitive and functional abilities living in the United States. Most neuropsychological measures have been developed and normed for English, monolingual speaking individuals. The Dementia Rating Scale-2 (DRS-2) Spanish version is a brief cognitive screening test that has been adapted for use with Spanish speakers. Similarly, the Direct Assessment of Functional Status (DAFS), a performance/observation-based test of activities of daily living (ADL), has been adapted for Spanish speakers. The purpose of the current study was to assess the relationship between these two measures of ADL and cognitive abilities in older Spanish speakers. Participants and Methods: The sample consisted of 26 older Spanish speaking individuals with a mean age of 71.58 (SD = +5.64) and 9.73 (SD = +6.66) years of education completed. All participants were considered healthy except for 2 cognitively impaired individuals that were included in the sample. All participants completed a questionnaire, DRS-2 which consists of attention, initiation/perseveration, construction, conceptualization, & memory subscales. Participants were also administered the Spanish version of the DAFS, which assesses functional abilities such as communication, financial skills, shopping abilities, identifying transportation/driving rules and general orientation to time and place. Results: Pearson’s correlations were used to assess the DAFS and DRS-2 subscales, and regression analyses were used to evaluate how well the DRS-2 subscales predict the DAFS subscale performance of the participants. We found significant correlations between the DAFS subscales and DRS-2 subscales ranging from r = .40 to .55. Regression analyses revealed all DRS-2 subscales significantly predicted DAFS Orientation, Communication, Transportation, Financial, and Shopping subscales R²ranging from .57 to .76. Conclusions: These findings provide additional validity for use of both Spanish versions of these tests with older adults. Specifically, it appears that key cognitive abilities best correlate with and predict specific daily functional abilities. This information is quite useful for neuropsychologists and healthcare providers using DRS-2 performance of older Spanish speaking patients to predict their functional abilities for the purpose of treatment planning.

Poster

02/17/2024
10:45 am - 12:00 pm
Room: Majestic Complex (Posters 61-120)

Poster Session 11: Cultural Neuropsychology | Education/Training | Professional Practice Issues

Final Abstract #71

The Relationship Between Cognition and Daily Functioning in Older Spanish-speaking Latinos

Isabel Muñoz, CSU, Northridge, Northridge, United States
Daniel Lopez-Hernandez, UCSD Health, San Diego, United States
Seth Almaraz, CSU, Northridge, Northridge, United States
Veronica Gutierrez, CSU, Northridge, Northridge, United States
Jill Razani, CSU, Northridge, Northridge, United States

Category: Cross Cultural Neuropsychology/ Clinical Cultural Neuroscience

Keyword 1: activities of daily living
Keyword 2: cognitive functioning
Keyword 3: aging (normal)

Objective:

The common language spoken by Latinos other than English is Spanish and the Spanish speaking Latino community is one of the largest in the United States. Past studies have shown that Latinos are at a higher risk of developing mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias compared to Caucasians. Currently there is not enough research on Spanish speaking individuals’ cognitive and functional abilities living in the United States. Most neuropsychological measures have been developed and normed for English, monolingual speaking individuals. The Dementia Rating Scale-2 (DRS-2) Spanish version is a brief cognitive screening test that has been adapted for use with Spanish speakers. Similarly, the Direct Assessment of Functional Status (DAFS), a performance/observation-based test of activities of daily living (ADL), has been adapted for Spanish speakers. The purpose of the current study was to assess the relationship between these two measures of ADL and cognitive abilities in older Spanish speakers.

Participants and Methods:

The sample consisted of 26 older Spanish speaking individuals with a mean age of 71.58 (SD = +5.64) and 9.73 (SD = +6.66) years of education completed. All participants were considered healthy except for 2 cognitively impaired individuals that were included in the sample. All participants completed a questionnaire, DRS-2 which consists of attention, initiation/perseveration, construction, conceptualization, & memory subscales. Participants were also administered the Spanish version of the DAFS, which assesses functional abilities such as communication, financial skills, shopping abilities, identifying transportation/driving rules and general orientation to time and place.

Results:

Pearson’s correlations were used to assess the DAFS and DRS-2 subscales, and regression analyses were used to evaluate how well the DRS-2 subscales predict the DAFS subscale performance of the participants. We found significant correlations between the DAFS subscales and DRS-2 subscales ranging from r = .40 to .55. Regression analyses revealed all DRS-2 subscales significantly predicted DAFS Orientation, Communication, Transportation, Financial, and Shopping subscales R²ranging from .57 to .76.

Conclusions:

These findings provide additional validity for use of both Spanish versions of these tests with older adults. Specifically, it appears that key cognitive abilities best correlate with and predict specific daily functional abilities. This information is quite useful for neuropsychologists and healthcare providers using DRS-2 performance of older Spanish speaking patients to predict their functional abilities for the purpose of treatment planning.