title: Number connection test and continuous reaction times in non-encephalopathic patients: a comparative study.
abstract: Number Connection Test (NCT) and Continuous Reaction Times (CRT) were determined in 94 hospitalized patients with no previous or actual cerebral dysfunction. By NCT, 47 patients used more than 30 s which is the upper normal limit. Of these, 5 used more than 50 s. Two patients exhibited a CRT exceeding the upper normal limit of 240 ms. Thus, accepting the upper limits quoted, one-half of the patients were falsely classified as encephalopathic by NCT, but only 2% by CRT. This indicates that the NCT is too unspecific to exclude encephalopathy and suggests that the CRT is a more valid measure in this respect.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged