Neurológia pre prax 6/2008

WHAT IS THE BEST EVALUATION OF SEMANTIC VERBAL FLUENCY IN CLINICAL PRACTICE?

Background: Categorical verbal fluency (CVF) is one of many neuropsychological tests. The aim of the study was to confirm the hypothesis that the short version of CVF (wherein the subjects were asked to recite 12 animals as fast as they were able) correlated with the one minute CVF. Methods: We assessed 32 healthy volunteers with mean age 67 +/- 8.5 years, mean education 16 +/- 2.2 years, MMSE 29.5 +/- 0.72 with CVF. We recorded performance, then we analyzed 15 s intervals and time to recite 12 animals. Results: Volunteers recited 25.75 +/- 6.59 animals during 1 minute. The performance significantly decreased every 15 s interval. The mean time to recite 12 animals was 19.2 +/- 15.4 s. Time to recite 12 animals correlated significantly with the 1 minute CVF (r = -0.712, p < 0.001). Scores in 15,30 and 45 s significantly correlated (r = 0.633, r = 0.882, r = 0,952, all p < 0.001) with the 1 minute CVF. Discussion: Time to recite 12 animals or a 30 s CVF could be a shorter variant of CVF.

Keywords: semantic fluency, neuropsychology, dementia, cognition, aging.