Normative Data For Verbal Fluency in Healthy Latin American Adults: Letter M, and Fruits and Occupations Categories

Objective: To generate normative data for the verbal fluency tests (VFT-letter M, fruits, and occupations categories) in Spanish-speaking adult populations, with country-specific adjustments for age, education, and sex when appropriate. Method: The sample consisted of 3,977 healthy adults from 11 countries in Latin America (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Puerto Rico; sample size per country ranged between n = 184 and n = 1,300). Each participant was administered the VFT as part of a larger neuropsychological battery. Scores for letter M, fruits, and occupations categories were normed using multiple linear regressions. The country-specific regression models included age, age2, education, education2, and sex as predictors. Results: The final multiple linear regression models showed that age affected the performance on these tests but not uniformly. For example, M letter scores decrease linearly with age except for Argentina, Guatemala, and Mexico, in which quadratic age effect was found. Scores also increase linearly as a function of education but not in all countries. For example, a quadratic education effect was found for the fruits category in Bolivia, Honduras, and Paraguay. Sex had a significant impact on the M letter category fluency in Guatemala, fruits category in Guatemala and Peru, and occupations' category in Mexico. Conclusions: This study presents verbal fluency test normative data across 11 countries in Latin America. These norms are expected to be useful for neuropsychologists of these countries. General Scientific Summary This study presents verbal fluency test normative data across 11 countries in Latin America. More accurate methodology was used to generate normative data, which provides a better description of people's performance. These norms are expected to be useful for neuropsychologists in these countries.