Verbal Fluency Performance in Normal Elderly Persian Speakers

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 (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 (PConclusion 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.