Reporting of Demographic Variables in Neuropsychological Research: An Update of O'Bryant et al.'s Trends in the Current Literature

Objective: Demographic trends and the globalization of neuropsychology have led to a push toward inclusivity and diversity in neuropsychological research in order to maintain relevance in the healthcare marketplace. However, in a review of neuropsychological journals, O'Bryant et al. found systematic under-reporting of sample characteristics vital for understanding the generalizability of research findings. We sought to update and expand the findings reported by O'Bryant et al. Method: We evaluated 1648 journal articles published between 2016 and 2019 from 7 neuropsychological journals. Of these, 1277 were original research or secondary analyses and were examined further. Articles were coded for reporting of age, sex/gender, years of education, ethnicity/race, socioeconomic status (SES), language, and acculturation. Additionally, we recorded information related to sample size, country, and whether the article focused on a pediatric or adult sample. Results: Key variables such as age and sex/gender (both over 95%) as well as education (71%) were frequently reported. Language (20%) and race/ethnicity (36%) were modestly reported, and SES (13%), and acculturation (<1%) were more rarely reported. SES was more commonly reported in pediatric than adult samples, and the opposite was true for education. There were differences between the present results and those of O'Bryant et al., though the same general trends remained. Conclusions: Reporting of demographic data in neuropsychological research appears to be slowly changing toward greater comprehensiveness, though clearly more work is needed. Greater systematic reporting of such data is likely to be beneficial for the generalizability and contextualization of neurocognitive function.

Automated summary

The reporting of demographic data in neuropsychological research is slowly improving, with key variables such as age, gender, and education being frequently reported. However, there are still deficiencies in reporting language, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.