Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 20, 2026
A Procedure to Study the Effect of Prolonged Food Restriction on Heroin Seeking in Abstinent Rats
Published on: November 11, 2013
Derived trail making test indices in a sample of heroin abusers: demographic effects
Arthur MacNeill Horton1, Charles Roberts
1Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Rockwall II Building, Suite 840, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857, USA. ahorton@samhsa.gov
Abstract:
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.
