Performance of an adult Brazilian sample on the Trail Making Test and Stroop Test.

Kenia Repiso Campanholo,Marcos Antunes Romão,Gláucia Rosana Guerra Benute,Mara Cristina Souza De Lucia,Melissa De Almeida Rodrigues Machado,Valéria Trunkl Serrao,Denise Gonçalves Cunha Coutinho

doi:10.1590/s1980-57642014dn81000005

Kenia Repiso Campanholo, Marcos Antunes Romão + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/s1980-57642014dn81000005

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Abstract

ObjectiveThe Trail Making Test (TMT) and Stroop Test (ST) are attention tests widely used in clinical practice and research. The aim of this study was to provide normative data for the adult Brazilian population and to study the influence of gender, age and education on the TMT parts A and B, and ST cards A, B and C.MethodsWe recruited 1447 healthy subjects aged ≥18 years with an educational level of 0-25 years who were native speakers of Portuguese (Brazilian). The subjects were evaluated by the Matrix Reasoning and Vocabulary subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III, along with the TMTA, TMTB and ST A, B and C.ResultsAmong the participants, mean intellectual efficiency was 103.20 (SD: 12.0), age 41.0 (SD: 16.4) years and education 11.9 (SD: 5.6) years. There were significant differences between genders on the TMTA (p=0.002), TMTB (p=0.017) and STC (p=0.024). Age showed a positive correlation with all attention tests, whereas education showed a negative correlation. Gender was not found to be significant on the multiple linear regression model, but age and education maintained their interference.ConclusionGender did not have the major impact on attentional tasks observed for age and education, both of which should be considered in the stratification of normative samples.

Highlights

The concept of attention is associated with the ability to perceive a stimulus, but this is merely one of the aspects related to this cognitive function essential for the functioning of other superior cortical function.[1]Attention can be defined as a neural mechanism that organizes the input stimuli in our consciousness.[2]
The Trail Making Test (TMT) is a task divided into two parts: Part A (TMTA), that requires the connection in ascending order of 25 numbers within circles arranged randomly on an A4 sheet; Part B (TMTB), that requires the connection between letters and numbers in alphabetical and ascending order alternately
The aims of the current study were to investigate the effects of age, education and gender on TMT and Stroop Test (ST) scores in a sample of Brazilian adults

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The concept of attention is associated with the ability to perceive a stimulus, but this is merely one of the aspects related to this cognitive function essential for the functioning of other superior cortical function.[1]. Tests assessing attention are essential in a neuropsychological assessment.[6] Such instruments include the Trail Making Test (TMT) and the Stroop Test (ST), both widely quoted in international and national studies[7,8,9,10,11] and considered highly sensitive tasks to lesions in the subcortical region and to frontal lobe lesions and their connections.[6,12] These tests are measures of executive function and shifting, sustained and selective attention.[6,12]. The TMT first appeared in 193813 and was known as Partington’s Pathways It was divided into two parts, the first, called Part A (TMTA), was used to assess sustained attention and the second, called Part B (TMTB), evaluated attention set-shifting. The aims of the current study were to investigate the effects of age, education and gender on TMT and ST scores in a sample of Brazilian adults

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