title: Evaluating processing speed in multiple sclerosis: a comparison of two rapid serial processing measures.
abstract: Processing speed deficits in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) are usually assessed with tests requiring rapid serial processing. Two such tests were compared here, the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT) and a computerized version of the Stroop test. The purpose of this study was to examine the concurrent validity of processing speed measures derived from the Stroop test and to relate these measures to disability ratings in a sample of 75 patients with relapsing-remitting MS. Patients evidenced slower processing speed than controls on both tests. Processing speed scores on the Stroop test were more closely related to patients' disability status. These results demonstrate the usefulness of rapid serial processing tests in assessing what is increasingly recognized as the primary cognitive deficit in MS. A less-distressing approach than the item-paced performance required by the PASAT appears to be fully adequate for evaluating this deficit.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Kansas Medical Center, 1415 Jayhawk Blvd., Lawrence, KS 66045-7556, USA.
authors.forename: Sharon G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Lynch
authors.forename: Kelly J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Dickerson
authors.forename: Douglas R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Denney
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000150:complications*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D012691:Serial Learning; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D057190:Stroop Test; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult