Cognitive Performance Patterns of Chinese Children Screened for ADHD: Role of Age, Sex and Continuous Performance Test (CPT) Modality
Jiangshun Fang, Yaning Sun, Tony Xing Tan, Blanca Solis, Haijing Cui, Rongpin Li, Wenjing Wu, Jimei Luan, Jinfang LüBackground
In China, childhood attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) screening is often conducted in pediatric clinics, where the computerized Continuous Performance Tests (CPT) are commonly administered. A child’s CPT result alone is often used to support an ADHD diagnosis, contrary to recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics that emphasize comprehensive clinical evaluation. Given resource constrains in certain regions, reliance on CPT for diagnosis is likely to persist. Improving the interpretation of CPT scores may therefore enhance their clinical utility.
Objective
To gain a deeper understanding of how children who were screened for ADHD performed on the CPT, we examined patterns of CPT performance among Chinese children screened for ADHD, in relation to age, sex, and sensory modality (auditory vs. visual).
Method
De-identified secondary data were obtained from one pediatric clinic that administered the Integrated Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Test (IVA-CPT) (
Results
On average, the children performed better on the auditory modality than on the visual modality. However, they scored 1.5-2.0 standard deviations below the normative mean of 100.00 (
Conclusion
Consideration of age, sex, and sensory modality may improve interpretation of CPT results in ADHD screening contexts, particularly in resource-limited settings.