| Publication Abstract Display | | Type: Published Abstract | | Title: Use of ethnicity-corrected norms in assessing African American and white HIV-infected men. | | Authors: Gongvatana A, Marcotte T, Taylor MJ, Gonzalez R, Moore DJ, Carey C, Miller W, Grant I, Heaton RK, and the HNRC Group | | Year: 2003 | | Publication: Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society | | Volume: 9 Issue: Pages: 161 | | Abstract:HIV infection can cause brain dysfunction and neuropsychological (NP) impairment, with increased risks of impairment occurring at later stages of the disease. In the past, NP norms used to detect impairment in HIV and other diseases have not been corrected for ethnicity; also, despite the well known differences in NP performances among normal people with different ethnicities, most NP norms have been based upon largely White (WH) samples. This has led to inflated impairment estimates among minority groups, especially among African Americans (AAs). The current study examines whether recently developed ethnicity-corrected NP norms can remedy this situation within the "context of HIV infection. We administered a battery of 20 NP tests to 175 AA and 485 WH HIV-infected adults. NP results were converted to demographically-corrected T scores, using (1) previously published norms that correct for age, education, and sex, but not ethnicity, and (2) newly developed norms that also correct for AA and WH ethnicities. The T scores were then converted to "deficit scores" that reflect the number and severity of impairments (T score < 40) on the NP battery. An ANOVA using summary NP deficit scores that were not corrected for ethnicity yielded highly significant effects for both disease stage [Centers for Disease Control Stages A, B, C; F(2,576) = 27.6, p < .001] and ethnicity [F(1,576) = 117.6, p < .001]. With ethnicity corrected deficit scores, the effect of disease stage was again highly significant [F(2,576) = 20.4,p < .001] but the ethnicity effect was eliminated [F(1,576) = .03, p = .87]. It is concluded that the new normative corrections provide more balanced and accurate indications of disease-related NP impairment in these two HIV-infected groups. |
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