Relationship between the Brazilian version of the Montreal-Toulouse language assessment battery and education, age and reading and writing characteristics. A cross-sectional study

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: There is growing concern about understanding how sociodemographic variables may interfere with cognitive functioning, especially with regard to language. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between performance in the Brazilian version of the Montreal-Toulouse language assessment battery (MTL-BR) and education, age and frequency of reading and writing habits (FRWH).DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional study conducted in university and work environments in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.METHOD: The MTL-BR was administered to a group of 233 healthy adults, aged 19 to 75 years (mean = 45.04, standard deviation, SD = 15.47), with at least five years of formal education (mean = 11.47, SD = 4.77).RESULTS: A stepwise multiple linear regression model showed that, for most tasks, the number of years of education, age and FRWH were better predictors of performance when analyzed together rather than separately. In separate analysis, education was the best predictor of performance in language tasks, especially those involving reading and writing abilities.CONCLUSION: The results suggested that the number of years of education, age and FRWH seem to influence performance in the MTL-BR, especially education. These data are important for making diagnoses of greater precision among patients suffering from brain injuries, with the aim of avoiding false positives.

研究背景与目的：人们愈发关注社会人口学变量对认知功能，尤其是语言相关认知功能的影响机制。本研究旨在探究巴西版蒙特利尔-图卢兹语言评估量表（Montreal-Toulouse Language Assessment Battery, MTL-BR）的测试成绩与受教育年限、年龄及读写习惯频率（frequency of reading and writing habits, FRWH）之间的关联。
研究设计与研究场景：本研究为横断面研究，在巴西南里奥格兰德州的高校及工作环境中开展。
研究方法：本研究对233名健康成年人施测MTL-BR量表，研究对象年龄介于19至75岁之间（平均年龄45.04岁，标准差SD=15.47），均接受过至少5年正规教育（平均受教育年限11.47年，标准差SD=4.77）。
研究结果：逐步多元线性回归模型分析显示，针对多数测试任务，联合分析受教育年限、年龄与读写习惯频率时，对测试成绩的预测效果优于单独分析各变量；单独分析结果表明，受教育年限是语言任务测试成绩的最佳预测因子，尤其在涉及读写能力的任务中表现最为显著。
研究结论：本研究结果表明，受教育年限、年龄与读写习惯频率均会对MTL-BR的测试成绩产生影响，其中受教育年限的影响尤为突出。上述数据对于提高脑损伤患者的诊断精准度具有重要价值，旨在避免假阳性诊断结果的出现。