Effects of Illiteracy on the European Cross-Cultural Neuropsychological Test Battery (CNTB)

Objectives: Test performances of illiterate and literate immigrants were compared to investigate the effects of illiteracy on the European Cross-cultural Neuropsychological Test Battery (CNTB), and associations between test performance and participant characteristics were examined. Method: Participants were 20 illiterate and 21 literate middle-aged and older Turkish immigrants (50-85 years) matched by age and gender that completed the CNTB as well as a number of demographic and medical questionnaires. Results: No significant group differences or correlations between education, acculturation or health characteristics and test performances were found on 10 of 16 measures. Illiteracy status and participant characteristics affected measures of mental processing speed, executive function, and visuoconstruction. Conclusions: The preliminary findings suggest that several of the measures in the CNTB may be valid for assessment of cognitive functioning in people who are illiterate when applied using available normative data. However, these findings need to be replicated in larger samples.