Publication Abstract Display
Type: Published Manuscript
Title: Demographically-adjusted norms for the Grooved Pegboard and Finger Tapping Tests in Spanish-speaking adults: Results trom the Neuropsychological Norms for The U.S.-Mexico Border Region in Spanish (NP-NUMBRS) Project.
Authors: Heaton A, Gooding A, Cherner M, Umlauf A, Franklin DR, Rivera MM, Suarez P, Artiola I Fortuni L, Heaton RK, Marquine MJ
Year: 2021
Publication: The Clinical Neuropsychologist
Volume: 35 Issue: 2 Pages: 396-418
Abstract:Objective: We developed demographically-corrected norms for Spanish-speakers from the U.S.-Mexico border regions of California and Arizona on two tests of motor skills - the Grooved Pegboard Test (Pegboard) and Finger Tapping Test (Tapping) - as part of a larger normative effort.Method: Participants were native Spanish-speakers from the Neuropsychological Norms for the U.S.-Mexico Border Region in Spanish (NP-NUMBRS) Project (Pegboard: N = 254; Tapping: N = 183; age: 19-60 years; education: 0-20 years; 59% women). We examined the association of demographics (age, education and gender) with raw scores. Raw test scores were then converted to demographically-corrected T-scores via fractional polynomial equations. We also examined rates of impairment (T-score < 40) based on the current norms and on previously published norms for English-speaking non-Hispanic Whites and Blacks.Results: Having more years of education was associated with better raw test score performance on both tests (p < .001), and increased age was associated with worse performance on Pegboard (p < .001). Men outperformed women on Tapping, and older age was associated with lower raw scores in men only on the Tapping non-dominant hand trial (p = .02). The normed T-scores were confirmed to be normally distributed and free from demographic influences, and resulted in expected rates of impairment. Applying existing norms for English-speaking non-Hispanic Whites and Blacks to the raw scores of Spanish-speakers generally yielded lower than expected impairment rates (2-13%), with one exception: non-dominant Pegboard, for which non-Hispanic White norms overestimated impairment (23%).Conclusions: Present findings underscore the importance of appropriate, population-specific normative data, even for tests of motor ability.

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