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Performance on the Benton Visual Retention Test in an Educationally Diverse Elderly Population

¹ Interdisciplinary Program of Cognitive Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
² Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
³ Department of Neuropsychiatry, Kyunggi Provincial Hospital for the Elderly, Yongin, Kyunggi, Korea.
⁴ Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Kyunggi, Korea.
⁵ Department of Neuropsychiatry, Kangwon National University Hospital, Chuncheon, Kangwon, Korea.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry, Seoul Backjae Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
⁷ Department of Psychiatry, Osan Mental Hospital, Osan, Kyunggi, Korea.

Address correspondence to Jong Inn Woo, Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital, 28 Yongon-dong, Chongno-gu, Seoul 110-744, Korea. E-mail: jiwoomd{at}plaza.snu.ac.kr

In this study, we investigated the effects of demographic variables on the performances of Administrations A and C of the Benton Visual Retention Test (BVRT) in a geriatric population with a wide range of educational achievement. We administered the test to 554 nondemented elders aged 60–90 years with an educational history of from zero to 25 years. Age and education significantly influenced Administrations A and C, although gender had no main effect. We observed significant Education x Gender interactions for Administrations A and C, Age x Gender interactions for Administration A, and Age x Education interactions for Administration C. Our results suggest that both nonverbal memory and constructional ability are influenced by age and education. Although there is no overall gender effect, men seem to outperform women in a poorly educated (for Administrations A and C) or relatively older (for Administration A) elderly population.