title: A normative study of the Children's Color Trails Test (CCTT) in the Cypriot population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The Children's Color Trails Test (CCTT) is a neuropsychological test that measures attention, divided attention, and speed of mental processing. It has been increasingly used in the assessment of children in cross-cultural environments for neurological and psychiatric disorders such as seizures and closed head injuries, learning and/or language disabilities, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, children with manganese exposure, and children diagnosed with HIV virus. However, there is a paucity of studies presenting normative data. The aim of the present study was to provide normative data for the CCTT in the Cypriot population.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 709 native Cypriot children aged 7-16 years, recruited from various public schools across the island, took part in the study. Exclusion criteria involved the existence of neurological, psychiatric, cardiological, and metabolic diseases, premature birth, history of maternal alcohol and drug abuse during pregnancy, low birth weight, hearing loss, visual problems, native language other than Greek, and abnormality in fine-motor movements.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Age and gender were found to be important factors for the interpretation of scores in all CCTT variables. Older children required less time and exhibited fewer errors, near misses, and prompts compared to younger children. There was a consistent pattern of a 3-4 seconds improvement (less time in seconds) in the CCTT completion time as age increased.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CCTT is a promising tool for the measurement of attention in the native Cypriot population. Further research is needed in children diagnosed with various neurological and psychiatric diseases in order to estimate validity of the CCTT in clinical populations.
authors.affiliation: a Speech Therapy , European University Cyprus , Nicosia , Cyprus.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Konstantopoulos
authors.affiliation: a Speech Therapy , European University Cyprus , Nicosia , Cyprus.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vogazianos
authors.affiliation: a Speech Therapy , European University Cyprus , Nicosia , Cyprus.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Thodi
authors.affiliation: b School of Health Sciences & Social Care , Brunel University , London , UK.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nikopoulou-Smyrni
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D003535:Cyprus; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000592:standards*; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
keywords: Attention; Children's Color Trails Test; Executive function; Normal development; Normative data