Influence of sociodemographic variables on the performance of the Frontal Assessment Battery in Argentine older adults Influencia de variables sociodemográficas en el rendimiento de la Frontal Assessment Battery en adultos mayores Argentinos

Abstract

Introduction. The Frontal Assesment Battery (FAB) is a screening tool for a quick assessment of executive functions. Previous studies show that sociodemographic variables such as age, sex and educational level may influence the performance of the FAB. The objective of this study is to analyze, in elderly Argentines from the general population and without cognitive impairment (assessed according to the Minimental, semantic and phonological verbal fluency tests and the Clock Test) if there are differences in the FAB explained by these variables. Methodology. The performance of 145 elderly adults from the general population without cognitive impairment between 60 and 90 years was analyzed. Studies of mean differences (Student's t-test and ANOVA), univariate analysis of variance, correlations (Pearson's r) and simple linear regressions were performed to analyze the influence of age, sex, educational level and general cognitive performance in the FAB. Results. Statistically significant differences were observed in the total score of the FAB according to the educational level, but not according to age or sex. It was also found that the FAB score correlated with other cognitive screening tests, such as the Minimental, the Clock Test and verbal fluencies (phonological and semantic). Conclusions. The present study presents results that indicate the importance of considering the educational level in the assessment of the FAB.