بررسی روانی واجی و روانی معنایی در سالمندان سالم فارسی‌زبان

Objectives: Cognitive deficits and language disorders such as difficulty in recalling certain words are common among the elderly people. Verbal fluency as an index of word finding is one of the first cognitive functions that decline due to aging.-Considering the lack of norms of verbal fluency in normal elderly Persian-speakers, the purpose of this research was to determine verbal fluency performance in elderly Persian speakers. Methods & Materials: This observational study consisted of 90 normal elderly individuals aged below 60 years, of which 45 were females and 45 were males. They were categorized into two age groups (60-74 years old, 75-90 years old) and three educational groups (<5, 6-12 years old, <12 years). A verbal fluency test was administered in two parts consisting of a semantic fluency measure in which the participants were required to name sequences from semantic categories and another phonemic fluency task (FAS) which was required to be completed in 60 seconds. Responses were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using the Troyer method. Data were analyzed using independent t-test, ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficient. Results: The findings of this study did not reveal any significant differences in the mean scores for semantic and phonemic fluency between both the genders. However, significant differences in mean scores were found in semantic and phonemic fluency between age groups (P<0.001). A significant revere correlation was found between age and switching (r=0.46, P<0.01).Education also showed a positive correlation with switching (r=0.36, P<0.01).&nbsp; Conclusion:&nbsp;The finding of the present study showed that semantic and phonemic fluency degrades through aging and enhances with higher education. Gender has no effect on semantic and phonemic fluency. It appears that the decline of verbal fluency due to aging should be considered in rehabilitation programs of language deficits such as aphasia in elderly people.