Faculty Collaboration Database

Estimating the diagnostic value of the trail making test for suboptimal effort in acquired brain injury rehabilitation patients. Clin Neuropsychol 2011 Jan;25(1):108-18

Date

11/30/2010

Pubmed ID

21113855

DOI

10.1080/13854046.2010.532912

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-79251501684 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   14 Citations

Abstract

This investigation explored the classification accuracy of Trail Making Test (TMT; Reitan & Wolfson, 1992) indices for suboptimal effort in a sample of non-litigious acquired brain injury patients seeking outpatient rehabilitation. Patients who exhibited optimal effort completed TMT A and B faster than suboptimal effort patients. Although TMT A time to completion demonstrated adequate sensitivity to suboptimal effort, positive predictive value was fair to poor unless the base rate of suboptimal effort was inflated to 40%. TMT B time to completion yielded poor sensitivity and positive predictive value for suboptimal effort. While TMT A time to completion appears to have some value as a validity indicator, no TMT validity indicator should replace more precise symptom validity tests during neuropsychological assessment.

Author List

Powell MR, Locke DE, Smigielski JS, McCrea M

Author

Michael McCrea PhD Professor in the Neurosurgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adult
Brain Injuries
Cognition Disorders
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Outpatients
Severity of Illness Index
Trail Making Test