Bias in a neuropsychological test classification related to education, age, and ethnicity.

159 brain-damaged or non-brain-damaged male inpatients (mean age 47.5 yrs) were classified by the Background Interference Procedure version of the Bender-Gestalt Test. Correctly and incorrectly classified Ss were compared in age, education, IQ, and racial-ethnic group. Differences were consistent with the hypothesis that certain S characteristics would lead to classification as neurologically impaired regardless of neurological condition. (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of patient age on neuropsychological test interpretation.

Normative test data for a 38-year-old and for a 74-year-old were obtained for the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Test Battery (HRNB), the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Revised (WAIS—R), and the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS). These test protocols were presented for blind interpretation to a random sample of psychologists specializing in neuropsychology. Test results for the "average" elderly person were interpreted as normal less frequently (42%) than results for the "average" younger adult (93%). The elderly person's test results also received higher impairment ratings and were frequently interpreted as reflecting dementia (23%). S's level of confidence with decisions made did not have an impact on accuracy rates. In addition, personal, training, and professional variables were not significantly related to judgment accuracy. The results suggest a tendency for misinterpretation of normal elderly persons' test performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Organicity versus old age in objective and projective test performance.

Administered the WAIS and the Holtzman Inkblot Technique (HIT) to 322 Veterans Administration domiciliary members to gain information on the nature and extent of intellectual decline from age 45-84. Multivariate statistical analyses were utilized to examine configural relationships among 4 aging groups compared with a group diagnosed as chronic brain syndrome. Multiple discriminant analysis revealed an overall statistically significant difference among the 5 group profiles. The 1st discriminant function tended to define the aging process by separating the 4 age groups. The 2nd discriminant function revealed a different patterning of test scores to be identified with the separation of the chronic brain syndrome group from the normal aging groups. Results based on 11 WAIS subtests and on 17 HIT variables were substantially similar. A final analysis utilizing both WAIS and HIT subtests revealed clearly that old age differs from younger age groups along a continuum that is quite different from that separating chronic brain syndrome patients from normal aging groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship of deficits in intelligence test performance of preschool children to perinatal experience.

The intelligence test records of 193 children age 3 and of 119 age 5 were analyzed in relation to their perinatal experiences and intelligence level (average or superior). The children were classified as unstressed (Group 1), suspect (Group 2), and presumably stressed (Group 3). At both ages, significant differences were found at both intelligence levels between Groups 1 and 2 + 3 in ability to copy forms. At 3 yr. a significant difference between Groups 1 and 2 + 3 in verbal skill was found among the average Ss. It is concluded that isolated deficits on complex verbal and visuomotor tasks may be indicative of minimal birth injury and that such injury is more observable among average than superior children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship of cognitive and emotional components of test anxiety to physiological arousal and academic performance.

The relationship of cognitive (worry) and emotional (emotionality) components of test anxiety to pulse rate, performance expectancy, and actual examination grades was determined for samples of both high school (N = 91) and college (N = 95) students. For both samples, 2 of the 3 major predictions received support: (a) worry was found to be more highly negatively related to examination grades than was emotionality or pulse rate, and (b) worry was more highly negatively related to expectancy than was emotionality. However, pulse rate was no more highly related to emotionality than to worry, suggesting that questionnaire and direct measures of autonomic arousal are less closely related than has been generally assumed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Innovative approach to patient education

Limitations on staff nurses' teaching skills, more acute conditions, more complex self-care treatments, and shorter hospitalizations--all hampered our efforts to educate patients before the implementation of our patient training program, the RSTC. Occasionally, the patients' learning needs have delayed discharge. But such delays are good for both the patient and the hospital, as inadequate patient education before discharge is thought to be the reason for visits to physician offices and emergency departments after discharge, and both constitute higher utilization costs for our facility. Ultimately, the design of our RSTC program satisfies the educational needs of our patients for self-care within the context of fiscal efficiency.     

Group embedded figures test performance in different instrumental behavior styles

Group Embedded Figure Test (GEFT) performance of male psychiatric clinic outpatients differed significantly between persons with active and those with passive styles of instrumental behavior as measured by the Millon-Illinois Self Report Inventory. Actives were able to identify the simple figure within a complex ground significantly better than passives and thus demonstrated an independence from field not found in passives.     

Relationship of age, age at onset, and sex to depression in older adults

The authors investigated the relationships among factors of age, age at onset, and sex in depressed older adults. A group of 96 outpatients (mean age, 60) diagnosed with late-(LOD) and early-onset (EOD) major depression were assessed for severity of depression and underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The MRI scans were rated for severity of white-matter hyperintensities (WMH) and ventricle-to-brain ratio (VBR). LOD was associated with increased amounts of WMH, larger VBR, and history of hypertension. Men were more severely depressed than women, with higher rates of neurovegetative signs and history of smoking. Age correlated with increased VBR and WMH, history of hypertension, history of percipitants for the current episode, and lack of social support. Results suggest that a subgroup of men may be more at risk for LOD associated with WMH and that sex and age at onset need to be considered in future studies.     

An examination of age and cognitive test performance across job complexity and occupational types.

In this study, job complexity and occupational type were examined as potential moderators of the relationship between age and cognitive ability. Data include general, verbal, and numerical ability scores for 21,646 individuals in the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) data base. These individuals comprised 102 unique samples and 10 major occupational groups. Differences in the relationship between age and cognitive ability test scores were observed across occupational types but not for different levels of job complexity. Findings were discussed in terms of a need for research that examines specific life and work experiences and how such experiences may influence an individual's cognitive abilities across the life span. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship of posture and age to urinary protein excretion

The influence of posture and age on urinary protein excretion was studied in 120 normal men volunteers. The supine excretion rate was less than 140 mug/min in all but two people (median value 38 mug/min) and tended to increase with age. The excretion rate decreased on quiet standing in 80% of people, which corresponded to a fall in creatinine-clearance. In the remaining 20% protein excretion increased on standing but generally remained within normal limits and was dissociated from changes in creatinine clearances. This increase was more prevalent in younger people and may represent a phenomenon analogous to orthostatic proteinuria, differing only quantitatively.     

Information, education and assistance to the patient

Information, Training and Assistance to patients are an ethical requirement for the prescriber as well as a necessary support to setting up the treatment best suitable to meet optimal efficacy expectations. Several phases with regard to providing information to patients can be considered: good knowledge of the patient, providing the patient with information regarding his or her disease, treatment, the overall medical assistance. Limits, hindrance and possible risks for the patient in providing medical information, are highlighted.     

Vocabulary test format and differential relations to age.

Although vocabulary tests are generally considered interchangeable, regardless of format, different tests can have different relations to age and to other cognitive abilities. In this study, 4 vocabulary test formats were examined: multiple-choice synonyms, multiple-choice antonyms, produce the definition, and picture identification. Results indicated that, although they form a single coherent vocabulary knowledge factor, the formats have different relations to age. In earlier adulthood, picture identification had the strongest growth, and produce the definition had the weakest. In later adulthood, picture identification had the strongest decline, and multiple-choice synonyms had the least. The formats differed in their relation to other cognitive variables, including reasoning, spatial visualization, memory, and speed. After accounting for the differential relations to other cognitive variables, differences in relation to age were eliminated with the exception of differences for the picture identification test. No theory of the aging of vocabulary knowledge fully explains these findings. These results suggest that using a single indicator of vocabulary may yield incomplete and somewhat misleading results about the aging of vocabulary knowledge. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Subject variables and performance on the Halstead Neuropsychological Test Battery: A multivariate analysis.

Administered the Halstead Neuropsychological Test Battery for Adults (HNTB) to 288 15–52 yr old (mean WAIS IQ 84) Ss with seizure disorder and examined age, sex, SES, handedness, and educational level as predictor variables. MANOVA showed considerable variability in the magnitude and nature of the relationship between predictor variables and measures of the HNTB. It is suggested that the influence of subject variables (especially sex) should be considered in the clinical-decision process involving neuropsychological evaluations so that adjusted cutoff scores and norms used are appropriate. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prevalence of antibodies to Neospora caninum in different canid populations

A total of 1,554 dogs from 5 countries on 3 continents were tested for antibodies to Neospora caninum using an indirect fluorescent antibody test. In Australia, overall, 42/451 (9%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 6-12%) dogs were seropositive (Melbourne 11/207 [5%, 95% CI 2-9%]; Sydney 18/150 [12%, 95% CI 7-18%]; Perth 13/94 [14%, 95% CI 8-22%]). Antibodies to N. caninum were also detected in dogs in South America (Uruguay [20%, 95% CI 16-24%, n = 414]) and sub-Saharan Africa (Tanzania [22%, 95% CI 12-36%, n = 49]). In contrast, only 1 of 500 dogs tested from the Falkland Islands and none of 140 dogs from Kenya was seropositive. Of wild canids, 1/54 (2%, 95% CI 0-10%) British foxes and 15/169 (9%, 95% CI 5-14%) Australian dingoes had antibodies to N. caninum.     

Sequence variation within three important cytomegalovirus gene regions in isolates from four different patient populations

We determined the nucleotide (nt) and amino acid (aa) heterogeneities of three distinct regions of the human cytomegalovirus (CMV) genome for 46 low-passage CMV isolates from four different patient populations (congenitally infected infants, children attending day-care centers, renal transplant recipients, and human immunodeficiency virus-infected individuals) and for two laboratory strains (CMV Ad169 and Towne). The gene regions for the major immediate-early (MIE) exon 4 gene (nt positions 1702 to 1982, aa positions 152 to 244), the DNA polymerase gene (nt positions 2797 to 3046, aa positions 713 to 795), and the glycoprotein B (gB) gene (nt positions 1698 to 1884, aa positions 567 to 628) were sequenced. The sequence information was used to design sets of nested PCR primers directed against the most highly conserved regions identified. MIE was the most variable gene region compared to the variability of the DNA polymerase and gB gene regions. Comparison of the sequences of all 46 isolates with that of Ad169 revealed nt and aa sequence homologies of 87.9 and 87.2%, respectively, within the MIE gene compared to 92.8 and 100% homologies, respectively, within the DNA polymerase gene and 93 and 95.2% homologies, respectively, within the gB gene. Within the MIE gene, compared to the Ad169 nt sequence the homology at the nt level among isolates obtained from children attending day-care centers was high (96.4%), while it was lower (90%) among isolates obtained from the other three patient populations. Preliminary results of a nested PCR with oligonucleotide primers selected from the DNA polymerase gene region with a low level of nt sequence variation indicates that primers selected from this region might be more powerful for use in PCR than primers selected from the MIE gene region.     

Effects of subject sex, examiner sex, and test apparatus on Halstead Category and Tactual Performance Tests.

80 undergraduates, equally divided by sex, were administered either standard or abbreviated versions of the Halstead Category Test (HCT) and the Tactual Performance Test (TPT) by 4 male and 4 female examiners. Results indicate a significant apparatus effect for TPT Time and significant S Sex?×?Sex of Examiner interactions for both TPT Memory and Location scores. Opposite-sexed pairs were associated with superior Memory and Location scores relative to same-sexed combinations. HCT scores were nonsignificant. (4 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship of education to the racial gap in neonatal and postneonatal mortality

OBJECTIVE: To examine the impact of education on race differences in neonatal and postneonatal mortality. METHODS: Data were from North Carolina's Linked Birth and Infant Death File for 1988 through 1993. The study population included 169,601 African American births and 400,359 European American births, with 2606 and 3060 deaths, respectively. Multiple logistic regression was used to assess the effects of race and education on neonatal and postneonatal mortality, adjusting for sociodemographic, lifestyle, and medical risk factors. RESULTS: Risks of death were higher for African Americans than for European Americans, more so in the neonatal than in the postneonatal period. Odds ratios (with 95% confidence intervals in parentheses) comparing African Americans to European Americans were as follows: neonatal deaths, 2.2 (1.9-2.5), 2.3 (2.1-2.6), and 2.8 (2.5-3.2) for less than 12, 12, and more than 12 years of education; and postneonatal deaths, 1.3 (1.1-1.6), 1.5 (1.3-1.7), and 2.1 (1.7-2.6), respectively. The biggest gap was for deaths in the first day of life, with odds ratios ranging from 2.8 to 3.6. Education had no impact on neonatal mortality in either race. Medical factors were more influential in the neonatal than in the postneonatal period, whereas environmental and social factors appeared to play a greater role in the postneonatal period. CONCLUSIONS: Racial differences in neonatal death are increasing and may be related to inequities in the provision of health care. The racial gap in the postneonatal period, although declining, has not disappeared and may be more related to environmental, social, and economic factors.