Optimization of the study of verbal fluency in puerperal women in the province of Córdoba (Argentina) during the 2016-2020 period through exploratory factor analysis

Abstract

Abstract: 

Postpartum women experience cognitive modifications evidenced in the resulting production of verbal fluency tests (VFT) (Miranda, 2017). Verbal fluency contains associative and cognitive flexibility components (Horcajuelo, 2014). There are traditional statistical techniques for its study, but Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) is proposed because it allows the interpretation of extensive measures, provides a more parsimonious representation and is of simple applicability (Fabrigar, 2011; Martinez, 2012). The objective was to optimize the study of the verbal fluency of puerperal women in the province of Córdoba (Argentina) during the period 2016-2020 through EFA.

It was an observational, cross-sectional, descriptive and correlational study. An accidental non-probability sampling was carried out with 100 lactating women as a sample. Demographic information was collected and four valid versions of VFT were used (semantic -Animals- and phonological -letter p, f and excluded A) (Fumagalli, 2018). An analysis of tetrachoric correlations was carried out and classical criteria (loads >0.30, eigenvalue, variance and communality) were considered (Mavrou, 2015; Miranda, 2019). Rotation methods and factor structures were compared according to demographic characteristics. Using the programs InfoStat and Stata 14.

The EFA showed similar results to the traditional methods, but the mathematical clarity in the EFA allows us to estimate similarity, uniqueness and commonality (Barbero García, 2011). The promax rotation yielded more robust results. After educational level, parity was the variable that had the most effects on VFT. Parity was associated with intrusions (β = 0.37), isolated words (β = 0.28) and jumps (β = 0.33) in the VFT-p; number of clusters (β = 0.30) in VFT-excluded A; and with jumps in VFT-f (β = 0.27) and number of groups for animals (β = 0.22).

EFA is a technique with potential for the study of word clustering. The estimation of the semantic structure and the grouping strategies allow understanding cognitive processes, in addition to providing the theoretical bases to analyze these processes under pathological conditions (Akiyama, 2018; Shao, 2014). The study of cognitive variations in the puerperium has received more interest lately. This shows the holistic approach of the puerperal woman, understanding other health processes in this vital stage.