Chinese version of the auditory verbal learning test: normative study and clinical applications in Chinese-speaking population in Shijiazhuang city.

Objective: The purposes were to establish standardized values for the Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) in the communities of Shijiazhuang city (China), with particular focus on the influences of age, education and sex, and to detect the discriminant validity data of the AVLT in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS).

Methods: 406 Chinese-speaking subjects (age: 50-84 years old) from Shijiazhuang city, were brought into this study. Using linear regression analyses, standardized values were developed for three variables of interest, including scores on short-term memory (sum of AVLT trials 1-3), delayed recall (AVLT trial 4), and an index representing recognition memory corrected for false-positive identifications (AVLT trial 5). 177 patients with AIS were included to probe the discriminant validity of the AVLT.

Results: The linear regression analysis showed statistically significant effect of age and sex on all trials of the AVLT. Years of education contributed significantly to trial 1-3 and trial 4 but not trial 5. Based on the results obtained, trail 1-3 and trail 4 of AVLT norms were stratified by age (3 strata), education (2 strata), and sex (2 strata). Trail 5 norms were stratified by age (3 strata) and sex (2 strata). Moreover, AIS groups performed significantly worse on most AVLT trials than matched cognitively healthy controls.

Conclusions: Normative data stratified by age, education and sex for the Chinese-speaking community-residents in Shijiazhuang was presented for use in research and clinical settings. The AVLT measures adequately differentiated between the cognitive performance (especially memory decline) of healthy adults and patients with AIS.