Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Trail Making Test”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1998

Trail making test performance in Vietnam combat veterans with and without posttraumatic stress disorder.

The present study investigated variables associated with performance on the Trail Making Test from the Halstead-Reitan neuropsychological test battery in Vietnam combat veterans. There was a significant difference in performance between veterans with and without PTSD on both parts of the Trail Making Test. In subgroup analyses excluding participants on medications (antianxiety, antidepressant, and cardiac), comorbid diagnoses (history of alcohol or substance abuse, history of major depression and comorbid anxiety disorder) and compensation-seeking status, the group difference on Trails B remained significant. However, subgroup analyses suggested that poorer performance on Trails A was influenced by antianxiety and cardiac medications, as well as heavy combat exposure status.

Brain↗
PubMed2000

Trail making test, part B as a measure of executive control: validation using a set-switching paradigm.

Recent controversy surrounds the use of the Trail Making Test as a measure of cognitive flexibility, given that the Trail Making Test, Part B (TMT-B) also differs from Part A (TMT-A) in factors of motor control and perceptual complexity. The present study compared performance in the TMT and a set-switching task in order to test the assumption that cognitive flexibility is captured in TMT-B performance. Set-switching tasks have low motor and perceptual selection demands, and therefore provide a clearer index of executive function. In this study, participants made category judgments for digits, letters, or symbols across a series of trials, and performance for consecutive same-task trials was compared with task-switch trials. Results of the set-switching task indicated significant switch cost, but only for the situation of task alternation (e.g., an ABA series), suggesting that task-set inhibition may play a role in this effect. Alternating-switch cost was significantly correlated with TMT-B performance, especially with the TMT-B to TMT-A ratio (B/A). Cost for alternating switches was especially large for participants with B/A ratio > 3. These results provide direct evidence that the B/A ratio of performance in the TMT provides an index of executive function.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Diagnostic efficiency of the Trail Making Test as a function of cut-off score, diagnosis, and age.

This study is a reinvestigation of the effectiveness of the Trail Making Test in discriminating between brain-damaged (n = 51) and pseudoneurologic (n = 72) subjects. All subjects were hospitalized male veterans at the Allen Park Veterans Administration Hospital. An analysis of covariance showed that the pseudoneurologic subjects performed at a significantly higher level than the brain-damaged subjects. Further analysis with two different cut-off scores exhibited unequal discriminatory power throughout the whole range of Trail Making Test scores. These results suggested diagnosing only when the scores were 9 or lower and 13 or higher. This use of extreme scores resulted in an over-all hit rate of 87% in the study. Comparisons with five major subgroupings of the pseudoneurologic subjects yielded only one significant difference: more accurate discrimination with the 12 cut-off score between 10 general-medical and peripheral nerve-damaged subjects (100% correct) and 18 psychotic subjects (39% accuracy).

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Neuropsychological false positives in litigation: trail making test findings.

100 workers' compensation claimants with no known history of brain injury and no claim for neuropsychological impairment were administered a generally accepted neuropsychological screening instrument, the Trail Making Test, to consider the possibility that the presence of litigation may be reflected in neuropsychological test scores. On Trails A and B, respectively, 40% and 36% of subjects scored in the impaired range. Clinicians are urged to interpret the results of the Trail Making Test cautiously when a patient is in litigation. Suggestions for research are offered.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Using the Trail Making test to screen for cognitive impairment in a drug abuse treatment sample.

The Trail Making test (TMT) is a brief paper and pencil neuropsychological test often used for screening for cognitive impairment. The value of the TMT is examined in a sample of 5619 males and 2902 females was drawn from electronic files of data from the Drug Abuse Treatment outcome Study (DATOS), a naturalistic, prospective cohort study that collected data from 1991-1993 in 96 programs in 11 cities in the United States. Data were analyzed to determine the effects of specific drugs of abuse on parts A and B of the TMT in this large sample of patients in drug abuse treatment programs. Most subjects, regardless of type of drug abused, on TMT parts A and B appeared to fall within normal limits relative to commonly accepted cutoff scores. These results suggest that the TMT parts A and B would have great value as screening measures for cognitive impairment in a drug abuse treatment population.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Depression and trail making test scores in a sample of cocaine abusers.

Depression effects on the Trail Making test (TMT), a test often used for screening cognitive impairments, were examined in a sample of cocaine abusers in drug abuse treatment programs. A mixed race sample of 4299 subjects was drawn from electronic files of data from the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Study (DATOS). DATOS was a naturalistic, prospective cohort study that collected data from 1991-1993 in 96 programs in 11 cities in the United States. Data were analyzed to determine the effects of depression on the TMT scores A and B, and also derived indices created by adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing parts A and B of the TMT in this large treatment sample of cocaine abusers. The variables of sex, age, ethnicity, and education were included in analyses to control for demographic effects. The TMT part A and the difference score were the least sensitive TMT scores to the effects of depression but all TMT R-squares were quite small.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

The geometric structure, construction, and interpretation of path-following (trail-making) tests.

Diagnostic comparisons of performance on parts A and B of the Trail Making Test (TMT) assume that path structure in the two parts is equivalent but that task complexity is greater for B. The two parts are shown to differ with respect to length and angular variability. However, measures of fractal dimension show no difference in structural complexity between paths A and B. This analysis suggests a principled method for generating alternative pathways, varying in complexity, and opens the way for a systematic study of path-following. It also suggests that path-following may be interpretable within a general approach, in which perceptual, linguistic, reasoning and motor processes are seen as related through different groups of geometric transformations.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Development and initial validation of an Arabic version of the Expanded Trail Making Test: implications for cross-cultural assessment.

The performances of Sudanese subjects, both normal and brain damaged, on an Arabic version of the Expanded Trail Making Test were compared to those of normal and brain-damaged subjects from the United States, who completed the standard English version of this test. Preliminary psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the Expanded Trail Making Test were defined. Significant intergroup differences in performance were observed. Interestingly, the performances of Sudanese normals were found to be similar to those of U.S. brain-damaged subjects. The results are discussed in terms of reducing neuropsychological diagnostic errors attributable to ethnocultural factors.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

Trail making test cut-offs for malingering among cocaine, heroin, and alcohol abusers.

The Trail Making Test (TMT) is frequently used to screen for cognitive impairments in substance abusers; however, an existing problem is that substance abusers may give poor effort and the TMT results may not be valid. In this study, cutting scores for malingering were developed from three samples drawn from electronic files of data from the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Study (DATOS), a naturalistic, prospective cohort study that collected data from 1991-1993 in 96 drug abuse treatment programs in 11 cities in the United States. The DATOS enrolled 7689 substance abusers. The three drawn samples were for subjects with primary drugs of abuse. Number of subjects were as follows: alcohol-1000, cocaine/crack-4306, heroin-1548. Data were analyzed to determine number of substance abusers that fell beyond the upper end of the distribution of TMT scores at the ten, five, and one percentiles. These percentiles were set for alcoholics, cocaine abusers, and heroin abusers. The proper use of the cut-off scores is to alert clinicians to the increasingly higher probability of poor effort when a substance abuser in one of the three groups scores beyond the one percent cut-off or his or her sample of primary drug of abuse. Clearly, the use of these cut-offs needs further empirical validation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

The expanded Trail Making Test: rationale, development, and psychometric properties.

Many procedures have been employed to determine the specific cognitive components necessary for successful Trail Making Test (TMT) performance. Yet, there is still considerable disagreement in the literature as to what these components might be. The present study explores an alternative methodology to address this problem. By systematically varying the stimuli within the TMT format, it may eventually be possible to isolate the cognitive demands of this test. As the first step toward this goal, two experimental forms of the TMT, forms X and Y, were developed and subjected to empirical validation. The results indicate that this Expanded Trail Making Test possesses adequate concurrent and criterion validity to support the proposed methodology. The results also suggest that the psychometric properties of the TMT format are robust to alterations in test stimuli. Secondary benefits of this methodology, in terms of explaining between-group variance and in terms of cross-cultural assessment, are discussed.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1990

Emotional impact on trail making test performance.

This study assessed the effect of emotional factors on Trail Making Test Part B performance for a sample of 105 neuropsychological referrals for whom there was no neurodiagnostic evidence of brain damage. Trails B scores declined in relation to elevated MMPI scores on Scales 6, 7, and 8, though only nine patients performed within the impaired range. The results suggest that (a) Trails B performance is resilient to a variety of emotional influences, (b) psychotic symptoms and severe anxiety impede Trails B performance, though rarely to the extent caused by brain damage, and (c) the MMPI provides objective criteria that help rule out emotional effects on Trails B performance.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Trail Making Test in assessing children with reading disabilities: a test of executive functions or content information.

The speed of performance on Part A, Part B, and on an experimental version containing alphabetical series (Part A Alphabetic) of the Trail Making Test was studied with 19 children with reading disabilities and 34 controls from Grades 4 to 6. When the test was used in discriminant profile fashion, children with reading disabilities showed a deficit compared with control children on Part B relative to part A but did not relative to the new Part A Alphabetic. The results indicate that the performance of the children with reading disabilities on Part B is likely to be affected by their slowness on the alphabetical series. Based on these results we recommend that the speed of following the alphabetical series be assessed when using Part B of the Trail Making Test.

Child↗
PubMed2002

Derived Trail Making Test indices in a sample of amphetamine abusers: demographic effects.

Derived indices on the Trail Making Test (TMT), a test often used for screening for cognitive impairment, were examined in a sample of amphetamine abusers in drug abuse treatment programs. A mixed race sample (N = 185) was drawn from electronic files of data from the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Study (DATOS), a naturalistic, prospective cohort study that collected data from 1991 to 1993 in 96 programs in 11 cities in the United States. Data were analyzed to determine the effects of demographic variables on derived indices created by adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing Parts A and B of the TMT in this large treatment sample of substance abusers. The variables of sex, age, ethnicity, and education were not statistically significant for selected derived indices of the TMT.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Derived trail making test indices in a sample of substance abusers: demographic effects.

Derived indices on the Trail Making Test (TMT), a test often used to screen for cognitive impairments, were examined in a sample of substance abusers in drug abuse treatment programs. A mixed race sample was drawn from electronic files of data from the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Study (DATOS). The DATOS was a naturalistic, prospective cohort study that collected data from 1991 through 1993 within 96 programs in 11 cities in the United States. Data were analyzed to determine the effects of demographic variables on derived indices created by adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing parts A and B of the TMT in this large treatment sample of substance abusers. The variables of sex, age, ethnicity, and education were statistically significant for selected derived indices of the TMT.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Derived trail making test indices in a sample of sedative abusers: demographic effects.

Derived indices on the Trail Making test (TMT), a test often used to screen for cognitive impairment, were examined in a sample of 72 sedative abusers in drug abuse treatment programs. A mixed race sample was drawn from electronic files of data from the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Study (DATOS). The DATOS was a naturalistic, prospective cohort study that collected data from 1991-1993 in 96 programs in 11 cities in the United States. Data were analyzed to determine the effects of demographic variables on derived indices created by adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing parts A and B of the TMT in this large treatment sample of substance abusers. The variables of sex, age, ethnicity, and education were not statistically significant for selected derived indices of the TMT.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Derived trail making test indices in a sample of heroin abusers: demographic effects.

Derived indices on the Trail Making test (TMT), a test often used for screening cognitive impairment, are examined in a sample of heroin abusers in drug abuse treatment programs. A mixed race sample of 1548 subjects was drawn from electronic files of data from the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Study (DATOS). The DATOS was a naturalistic, prospective cohort study that collected data from 1991-1993 in 96 programs in 11 cities in the United States. Data were analyzed to determine the effects of demographic variables on derived indices created by adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing parts A and B of the TMT in this large treatment sample of heroin abusers. The variables of sex, age, ethnicity, and education were strongly statistically significant for the total (A + B) and interaction (A x B/100) derived indices of the TMT. Similarly, the difference score (B - A) was significant for race/ethnicity and education, but the ratio score (B/A) was not significant for any demographic variable.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Derived trail making test indices in a sample of marijuana abusers: demographic effects.

Derived indices on the Trail Making Test (TMT), a test often used for screening for cognitive impairment, were examined in a sample of marijuana abusers in drug abuse treatment programs. A mixed-race sample of 259 subjects was drawn from electronic files of data from the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Study (DATOS). The DATOS was a naturalistic, prospective cohort study that collected data from 1991 to 1993 in 96 programs in 11 cities in the United States. Data were analyzed to determine the effects of demographic variables on derived indices created by adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing Parts A and B of the TMT in this large treatment sample of marijuana abusers. The variables of age, ethnicity, and education were statistically significant for the total (A + B), and interaction (A x B/100) derived indices of the TMT. The difference score (B - A) was significant only for ethnicity and the ratio score (B/A) was not significant for any demographic variable.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Derived trail making test indices in a sample of hallucinogen abusers: demographic effects.

Derived indices on the Trail Making test (TMT), a test often used for screening for cognitive impairment, were examined in a sample of hallucinogen abusers in drug abuse treatment programs. A mixed race sample (N = 128) was drawn from electronic files of data from the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Study (DATOS). The DATOS was a naturalistic, prospective cohort study that collected data from 1991 to 1993 in 96 programs in 11 cities in the United States. Data were analyzed to determine the effects of demographic variables on derived indices created by adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing Parts A and B of the TMT in this large treatment sample of hallucinogen abusers. The variables of sex and age were not statistically significant for derived indices of the TMT. The variable of ethnicity was significant for the all derived indices except the ratio score (divide Part B by Part A) and the variable of education was significant for the interaction score (multiply Part A by Part B and divide by 100).

Adolescent↗