Title:Quality of Education and Memory Test Performance in Older Men: The New York University Paragraph Recall Test Normative Data
VOLUME: 10 ISSUE: 7
Author(s):Melissa Mathews, Erin Abner, Allison Caban-Holt, Brandon C. Dennis, Richard Kryscio and Frederick Schmitt
Affiliation:333B Sanders-Brown Center On Aging, University of Kentucky, 800 S. Limestone Street, Lexington, KY 40536-023, USA.
Keywords:Aging, literacy, memory, New York University (NYU) paragraph recall, normative data, norms, paragraph recall.
Abstract:Objectives: Memory evaluation is a key component in the accurate diagnosis of cognitive disorders.One memory
procedure that has shown promise in discriminating disease-related cognitive decline from normal cognitive aging is
the New York University Paragraph Recall Test; however, the effects of education have been unexamined as they pertain
to one’s literacy level. The current study provides normative data stratified by estimated quality of education as indexed
by irregular word reading skill. Method: Conventional norms were derived from a sample (N = 385) of cognitively intact
elderly men who were initially recruited for participation in the PREADViSE clinical trial. A series of multiple linear regression
models were constructed to assess the influence of demographic variables on mean NYU Paragraph Immediate
and Delayed Recall scores. Results: Test version, assessment site, and estimated quality of education were significant predictors
of performance on the NYU Paragraph Recall Test. Findings indicate that estimated quality of education is a better
predictor of memory performance than ethnicity and years of total education. Normative data stratified according to estimated
quality of education are presented. Discussion: The current study provides evidence and support for normativedata
stratified by quality of education as opposed to years of education.
