H - 48 Preliminary Normative Data for a Letter Fluency (PAN) Test Via Teleneuropsychology for Puerto Rican Adults.

Abstract

Explore internal consistency, concurrent validity, and impact of demographic factors to provide preliminary normative data for a teleneuropsychological (TeleNP) and culturally-sensitive letter fluency (PAN) test based on Benton and Hamsher's (1976) approach (two easy and one difficult letter) for Spanish-speaking Puerto Ricans. 102 cognitively healthy Puerto Ricans (Female: 69%; Age: M = 63.2, SD = 6.1; Education: M = 16.2, SD = 3.6) residing on the island were administered the letters PAN and a category (Animal) fluency task via Zoom, as part of a larger neuropsychological battery. Cronbach's alpha was applied to explore PAN's internal consistency. Concurrent validity was examined through Pearson correlation between PAN and Animal fluency. Analyses of variance were used to explore the effect of age, education, and sex. Descriptive statistics were conducted to develop normative data stratified by statistically significant demographics. Cronbach's alpha for PAN was α= 0.833. Each letter had a positive and significant correlation with Animal fluency (0.477, 0.471, 0.471; p < 0.001). Only age and education significantly impacted performance on all letters. M and SD raw scores among the sample were P (M = 14.0; SD = 4.5), A (M = 11.8; SD = 4.1), N (M = 8.8; SD = 3.5). Data suggest good internal reliability and moderate concurrent validity. Results supports that each consecutive letter is more difficult. This study provides preliminary normative data for cognitively healthy Puerto Rican adults, which can improve diagnostic accuracy while providing clinicians with a TeleNP and culturally-appropriate testing tool. Future research with PAN should include clinical samples.