[Verbal fluency test--developmental aspects in health and illness].
BACKGROUND
The Verbal Fluency Test is one of the easiest method in the neuropsychological evaluation of the frontal and temporal lobes' functioning. The amount of reasearch considering children's performance is still small compared to the adult population. The test lacks polish norms (as well as norms for children in other countries, except for unique cases).


OBJECTIVE
it was to present possible methods of quality and quantity analysis of the Verbal Fluency Test, and the statistical interpretation of children's performance, depending on the general result, age and diagnosis.


METHODS
the research was done on a group of 80 children, aged 6-17, including 50 girls and 30 boys, who were hospitalized during the yeras 2007/2008 in the Department of Pediatric Neurology Chair of Pediatric and Adolescent Neurology Jagiellonian University in Krakow. The children were diagnosed with epilepsia (44 children) or headache (36 children). The Verbal Flunecy Test was used in the neuropsychological evaluation among other methods, such as Rey Osterrieth Compex Figure test, Clock test, and intelligence tests WISC-R and WAIS-R(PL).


RESULTS
the results confirm the charakter of the method, as a executive rather than memory function measure. The general result was influenced mainly by the ability to switch between specific subcategories. The general result correlated with age and gender, also children with headache performed better than children with epilepsia.


CONCLUSIONS
Apropriately interpreted, especially considering quality analysis, the Verbal Fluency test is a valuable tool in the differential diagnosis in children, and detection of subtle weakening in the development of certain cognitive abilities. It is crucial to gather appropriate normative data for the population of children in Poland, which would enable the test's use in more general practice, as one of the early detection methods in the diagnosis of developmental disorders.
Stolarska
Urszula
U
Katedra Neurologii Dzieci i Młodziezy i Klinika Neurologii Dzieciecej Uniwersytet Jagielloński Collegium Medicum, Kraków. neupedkr@cm-uj.krakow.pl
Kroczka
Sławomir
S
Gergont
Aleksandra
A
Steczkowska
Małgorzata
M
Kaciński
Marek
M
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D006261:Headache / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D013064:Speech Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology