Modified-Symbol Digit Modalities Test for African Americans, Caribbean Black Americans, and non-Latino Whites: Nationally representative normative data from the National Survey of American Life

Normative neuropsychological data for U.S. racial/ethnic minorities are limited. Extant norms are based on small, regional C groups that may not be nationally representative. The objectives of this study were to (1) provide norms for a modified Symbol Digit Modalities Test (M-SDMT) based on a nationally representative sample of African Americans, Caribbean Blacks, and non-Latino Whites (NLW) living in areas with large populations of Blacks; and (2) determine significant correlates of M-SDMT performance. The M-SDMT was administered to a subset of respondents from the National Survey of American Life in standard face-to-face interviews. M-SDMT performance was influenced by race/ethnicity, age, education, and gender. African Americans and NLW groups had similar M-SDMT performances, which differed from Caribbean Blacks. The Black ethnic differences in M-SDMT were not explained by the sociodemographic factors considered in this study. Unlike previous work, this study supports the consideration of Black ethnicity when evaluating Black neuropsychological test performance. (C) 2007 National Academy of Neuropsychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.