title: The Frontal Lobe Score: part II: evaluation of its clinical validity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the ability of the Frontal Lobe Score (FLS) to differentiate patients with frontal lobe lesions from those with nonfrontal lesions and normal controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a prospective, blind setup, the sensitivity and specificity of the Frontal Lobe Score was compared with the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and the Stroop Test.
  
  
  METHODS
  A sample of 108 subjects (26 patients with cerebral lesions confined to the frontal lobes, 28 patients with cerebral lesions without involvement of the frontal lobes, 31 patients with mixed frontal/nonfrontal lesions, 23 controls without cerebral lesions) was examined.
  
  
  METHODS
  Frontal Lobe Score, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Stroop Test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Frontal Lobe Score detected pure frontal lesions with a sensitivity of 92.3%. It discriminated patients with frontal lesions from normal controls with a specificity of 100%; differentiation from patients with nonfrontal lesions was obtained with a specificity of 75.0%. For the WCST, sensitivity for detection of pure frontal lesions was 65.4%, while specificity was 60.9% compared with normal controls and 53.6% compared with nonfrontal lesions. The Stroop Test showed a sensitivity of 30.8%, a specificity compared with normal controls of 95.7% and compared with nonfrontal lesions of 92.9%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Frontal Lobe Score has clinical usefulness for screening of effects of frontal lobe damage superior to that of the WCST and the Stroop Test.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wildgruber
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Kischka
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fassbender
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Ettlin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index