Semantic fluency and phonemic fluency: regression-based norms for the Portuguese population

Arch Clin Neuropsychol. 2013 May;28(3):262-71. doi: 10.1093/arclin/act001. Epub 2013 Jan 21.

Abstract

The main goal of this study was to produce adjusted normative data for the Portuguese population on two verbal fluency measures: the semantic fluency test (animals category) and the phonemic fluency test (letters M, R, and P). The study included 950 community-dwelling individuals (624 women and 326 men) aged between 18 and 98 (mean = 57.8, SD = 19.0), who had educational backgrounds ranging from 0 to 20 years (mean = 8.8, SD = 5.2). The results showed that age and education were significantly associated with semantic fluency and phonemic fluency performance. These demographic characteristics accounted for 42% of the semantic fluency and between 23% and 31% of the phonemic fluency performance variance. No significant sex effects were found. The normative data are presented as regression-based algorithms to adjust test scores for age and education, with subsequent correspondence between adjusted scores and percentile distribution.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Age Factors
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Algorithms
  • Educational Status
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Phonetics*
  • Portugal
  • Psychological Tests
  • Reference Values
  • Semantics*
  • Verbal Behavior*