Normative data for tests of attention and executive functions in a sample of European Portuguese adult population

Abstract

Objective: The main goal of this study was to produce normative data for the Portuguese population on five neuropsychological tests frequently used to assess executive functions and attention: the Modified Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (M-WCST), the Stroop Color and Word Test, the Trail Making Test (TMT), the Brief Test of Attention (BTA), and the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT). Method: The study included 300 individuals aged between 18 and 93 years, who had educational backgrounds ranging from 3 to 25 years. Results: The influence of age, education, and sex was explored for each measure, as well as their contribution to explain the performance variance. Conclusions: The normative data are presented as regression-based algorithms to adjust direct and derived test scores for sex, age, and education. This study provides a calculator of normative data, derived from the results of the regression models.