Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, Vol 51, Issue 6 P331-P334, Copyright © 1996 by The Gerontological Society of America
A 15-year longitudinal study of Halstead-Reitan neuropsychological test performance
MF Elias, MA Robbins and PK Elias
Department of Psychology, University of Maine, USA. mfelias@maine.maine.edu
Using a two-stage growth curve analysis, change over time in performance on
tests in the Halstead-Reitan Battery and Average Impairment Rating (AIR)
was assessed for 53 individuals who varied in age and health status. In the
first stage of the analysis, estimated slope and intercept values were
calculated for each individual by regressing longitudinal data points on
time. In the second stage, estimated slope and intercept values obtained in
the first-stage analysis were regressed on age at entry into the study with
statistical control for health status, education, occupation, and gender.
Control for health status had an insignificant influence on magnitude of
associations between age and test performance. Age-at-entry into the study
was associated with statistically significant increasing change over time
(poorer performance) for tests placing relatively heavy demands on speed of
psychomotor performance and for AIR.
