INFLUENCE OF DEPRESSION ON VERBAL FLUENCY PERFORMANCE

Neuropsychologists are often faced with the challenge of assessing old er adults who exhibit both cognitive deficits and symptoms of depressi on. This study examined factors associated with diminished fluency in elderly adults. Three groups were tested: 54 community elderly, 35 ins titutionalized elderly, and 40 young adults using the Controlled Oral Word Association test. Significant incremental contributions to perfor mance on verbal fluency included age, education, depression, and the i nteraction term For depression and functional impairment. Diminished v erbal fluency was associated with depression among older adults who we re not functionally impaired. The results suggest that variables other than cerebral integrity must be taken into consideration when interpr eting older adults' performance on fluency tests.