Related Experiment Videos
Derived trail making test cutoffs and malingering among substance abusers
Arthur MacNeill Horton1, Charles Roberts
1Psych Associates, Towson, Maryland, USA. drmachorton@hotmail.com
The International Journal of Neuroscience
|July 30, 2005
Summary
This study developed new cutoff scores for the Trail Making Test (TMT) to detect poor effort in substance abusers. These derived TMT scores suggest potential malingering in alcohol, cocaine, and heroin users.
Area of Science:
- Neuropsychology
- Clinical Psychology
- Forensic Psychology
Background:
- The Trail Making Test (TMT) is a common tool for assessing cognitive impairment in substance abuse populations.
- A significant limitation of the TMT is the potential for malingering or poor effort among substance abusers, which can affect test validity.
- Existing TMT norms may not adequately account for the specific challenges presented by individuals with substance use disorders.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and evaluate derived Trail Making Test (TMT) cutoff scores specifically for screening cognitive effort in substance abusers.
- To establish percentile-based cutoffs for alcohol, cocaine, and heroin abusers to identify individuals potentially exhibiting poor effort.
- To provide clinicians with data-driven tools to better interpret TMT results in the context of substance abuse.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of data from the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Study (DATOS).
- Calculation of derived TMT scores and determination of upper distribution percentiles (10%, 5%, and 1%) for distinct substance abuse groups (alcohol, cocaine, heroin).
- Comparison of percentile values across different primary drug of abuse samples.
Main Results:
- Derived TMT cutoff scores were calculated for alcohol (n=1000), cocaine (n=4306), and heroin (n=1548) abusers.
- Percentile values for the derived TMT scores were found to be remarkably similar across the three substance abuse groups at the 10%, 5%, and 1% levels.
- This similarity suggests stability and potential credibility of the derived estimates for identifying poor effort.
Conclusions:
- The derived TMT cutoff scores can serve as an alert for clinicians regarding the increased likelihood of poor effort in substance abusers scoring beyond the 1% percentile.
- Caution is advised, as these cutoff scores require further empirical validation before being used solely to suggest malingering.
- Additional research is necessary to refine and confirm the clinical utility of these TMT cutoff scores for substance-abusing populations.