Characterization and sociocultural predictors of neuropsychological test performance in HIV+ Hispanic individuals
Title | Characterization and sociocultural predictors of neuropsychological test performance in HIV+ Hispanic individuals |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2008 |
Authors | Rivera-Mindt, M, Byrd, D, Ryan, EL, Robbins, RN, Monzones, J, Arentoft, A, Germano, KK, Morgello, S, Henniger, DE |
Journal | Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology |
Volume | 14 |
Pagination | 315-25 |
Date Published | 2008 |
Keywords | Internal |
Abstract | Hispanic individuals in the U.S. have been disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS, yet little is known regarding the neuropsychological sequelae of HIV within the Hispanic population. This study characterized neuropsychological (NP) test performance of HIV+ English-speaking Hispanic participants (n = 51) and investigated the combined roles of sociocultural factors (e.g., ethnicity, socioeconomic status [SES] proxy, and reading level) on NP test performance among our HIV+ Hispanic and non-Hispanic White participants (n = 49). Results revealed that the pattern of NP impairment in HIV+ Hispanic participants is consistent with the frontal-striatal pattern observed in HIV-associated CNS sequelae, and the overall prevalence of global NP impairment was high compared to previous reports with more ethnically homogeneous, non-Hispanic White cohorts. Multivariate prediction models that considered both sociocultural factors and CD4 count revealed that reading level was the only unique predictor of global NP functioning, learning, and attention/working memory. In contrast, ethnicity was the only unique predictor of abstraction/executive functioning. This study provides support for the use of neuropsychological evaluation in detecting HIV-associated NP impairment among HIV+ Hispanic participants and adds to the growing literature regarding the importance of considering sociocultural factors in the interpretation of NP test performance. |
URL | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18954167 |