A Verbal Learning and Memory Test for English- and Spanish-speaking Older Mexican-American Adults

Currently, there are significant limitations in word-list verbal learning and memory tests that are appropriate and have adequate normative data for use with older Latinos of Mexican descent. The purpose of this study was to derive normative data for a word-list learning test with English and Spanish versions, the Spanish English Verbal Learning Test (SEVLT), and develop statistical corrections for the effects of significant demographic variables. A large, population-based sample of 1,789 Latinos of primarily Mexican ancestry over age 60 was employed. Individual trial scores, the total number of items recalled in the learning trials, and the delayed recall trial of the SEVLT were influenced by age, education, gender, but not the language of SEVLT administration. Regression coefficients derived from demographic variables were used to adjust raw SEVLT scores in a general correction formula, and specific percentile cut-off values were identified for these adjusted scores. Normative data tables stratified on demographic variables are also presented.