Frontal assessment battery in a Brazilian sample of healthy controls: normative data

Abstract

Objective: To show data on the performance of healthy subjects in the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB), correlating with gender, age, education, and scores in the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).

Methods: Two hundred and seventy-five healthy individuals with mean age of 66.4 ± 10.6 years-old were evaluated. Mean total FAB scores were established according to the educational level.

Results: Mean total FAB scores according to the educational level were 10.9 ± 2.3, for one to three years; 12.8 ± 2.7, for four to seven years; 13.8 ± 2.2, for eight to 11 years; and 15.3 ± 2.3, for 12 or more years. Total FAB scores correlated significantly with education (r=0.47; p<0.0001) and MMSE scores (r=0.39; p<0.0001). No correlation emerged between FAB scores, age, and gender.

Conclusion: In this group of healthy subjects, the Brazilian version of the FAB proved to be influenced by the education level, but not by age and gender.