A normative study of the Trail Making Test in Korean elders.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of age, education and gender on the performance of the Trail Making Test (TMT) and provide normative information in Korean elders.


METHODS
The TMT was administered to 997 community-dwelling volunteers aged 60-90. People with serious neurological, medical and psychiatric disorders, including dementia, were excluded.


RESULTS
Education and age had significant effects on both parts of the TMT. Gender also had an effect on part A of the TMT (Trail A). Based on these results, the norms of Trail A stratified by age (four overlapping tables), education (four strata) and gender, and the norms of part B of TMT (Trail B) stratified by age (four overlapping tables) and education (three strata).


CONCLUSIONS
Age and educational level had a considerable influence on both Trail A and B. Our normative information on the Trail A will be useful in the elders with poor educational attainment and can be utilized for cross-cultural comparison of the Trail A performance. The fact that a large number of elders fail to complete Trail B indicates a limited applicability of Trail B in elderly population, particularly with poor educational background.
Seo
Eun Hyun
EH
Interdisciplinary Program of Cognitive Science, Seoul National University, and Department of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Research Institute, Seoul University Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
Lee
Dong Young
DY
Kim
Ki Woong
KW
Lee
Jung Hie
JH
Jhoo
Jin Hyeong
JH
Youn
Jong Choul
JC
Choo
Il Han
IH
Ha
Jin
J
Woo
Jong Inn
JI
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044466:Asian People / Q000523:psychology*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D012737:Sex Factors; D014145:Trail Making Test