Determining Filipino Normative Data for a Battery of Neuropsychological Tests: The Filipino Norming Project (FNP)

Abstract

Background: Filipino normative data for neuropsychological tests are lacking. Objectives: This study aimed to determine the Filipino normative data for the Filipino Norming Project (FNP) Neuropsychological Battery, combining the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale – Cognitive (ADAS-Cog) and the Neuropsychological Test Battery from the Uniform Dataset of Alzheimer’s Disease Center (UDS-ADC). Methods: We recruited participants 60 years and older with normal cognition (MMSE score of 25 and above and did not fulfill criteria for dementia according to DSM-IV criteria). Psychologists administered the tests to the study participants. We conducted multivariate analyses to study the effect of age, gender, and education on test performance. Results: A total of 191 participants underwent the FNP Neuropsychological Test Battery. The mean age was 68.8 years (SD 5.4). The majority were female (84.1%). The mean score of ADAS-Cog was 9.98 (SD 4.74). The effect of education was prominent throughout the cognitive domains tested while the effect of age was limited to a few cognitive domains. The mean ADAS-Cog scores were 11.80 ± 4.40 for primary education, 9.93 ± 5.08 for secondary, and 8.15 ± 3.95 for tertiary. On average, women scored 2.75 points lower than men and performed better on the verbal components. Men performed better on the constructional praxis component. The same effect of education and gender was observed for the UDS-ADC. Conclusion: For the first time, normative data are available for the ADAS-Cog and UDS-ADC for a Filipino older population. This study stresses the importance of establishing population-specific normative data, taking into account the specific sociocultural and linguistic context of that population.