Trail Making Test norms for psychiatric patients

Area of Science:

• Neuropsychology
• Psychiatry
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• The Trail Making Test (TMT) is a widely used neuropsychological assessment.
• Standard TMT norms may not accurately reflect performance in psychiatric inpatient populations with varying cognitive abilities.
• Accurate normative data is crucial for evaluating cognitive deficits in clinical settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop ability-based norms for the Trail Making Test (TMT) tailored to psychiatric inpatients.
• To investigate the influence of IQ, age, education, and gender on TMT performance in this population.
• To provide a more appropriate method for assessing cognitive functioning in psychiatric inpatients.

Main Methods:

• Administered the TMT to 661 psychiatric inpatients.
• Conducted multiple regression analyses to identify significant predictors of TMT performance.
• Utilized IQ as a moderator variable to develop ability-based norms.

Main Results:

• Significant associations were found between TMT performance, IQ, and age.
• Education and gender did not significantly impact TMT scores after accounting for IQ and age.
• Ability-based norms were developed using time to completion and IQ.

Conclusions:

• The developed ability-based norms provide a more accurate assessment of cognitive functioning for psychiatric inpatients compared to existing norms.
• These norms allow for a better understanding of differential cognitive performance within this clinical group.
• The study offers practical tools for clinicians to interpret TMT scores adjusted for individual IQ and age.