Semantic verbal fluency task: The effects of age, educational level, and sex in Lebanese-speaking adults

Abstract

Verbal fluency tasks are considered clinically valuable measures of cognitive impairment for they are short, easy to score and administer, and of low costs. Sociodemographic, cultural, and linguistic variables have been shown to affect verbal fluency performance. Information concerning the effects of sociodemographic variables on semantic verbal fluency (SVF) performance in Lebanon and other Arabic-speaking countries is lacking. This study examined the effects of age, educational level, and sex on SVF performance in healthy Lebanese-speaking adults. Data were obtained from 70 adult Lebanese speakers ages 19–79. Participants were presented with fourteen categories, each at a time, and were asked to generate as many exemplars as they could in 60 seconds. Results from regression analyses showed that age (p < .001) and educational level (p = .002) variables had significant effects on overall SVF performance resulting in younger adults and adults with higher educational levels achieving higher SVF scores. Overall, sex did not emerge a predictor of SVF performance. Category-specific differences demonstrate variability. Consequently, the effects education and age present on SVF may be due to their critical roles in the semantic and non-semantic components of SVF, respectively.

Keywords:

• Arabic
• category-specific differences
• Lebanese
• sociodemographic variables
• verbal fluency