French adult normative data for a Standard Executive Neuropsychological Test Battery

Objective Executive impairments are frequent and may concern a large spectrum of health conditions throughout life. Given the complexity of the executive functions, their assessment requires the administration of multiple tests. There is only one source of French-language normative data for seven traditional executive tests for adults under age 50. The aim of the present study was to establish demographically adjusted normative data of four executive tests commonly used during the neuropsychological assessment in France for adults aged 18-65. Method The following tools were administered to 518 community adults aged from 18 to 65: Digit Span, Trail Making Test, Color Word Interference Test, and Verbal Fluency Test. An Overall Test Battery Mean was computed. Multiple regressions were computed for normally distributed scores and percentiles were established for non-normally distributed scores. Results Multiple regression analyses indicated that younger age and higher education were both associated with better performance. Age did not predict the number of correct responses on the Verbal Fluency Test. Gender did not have any effect on executive performances. Regression equations to calculate Z-scores are presented. Percentiles are presented for the number of recorded errors on the Trail Making Test, Color Word Interference Test, and Verbal Fluency Test. Conclusions We provide reliable and updated norms for four executive tests that are among the most used by clinical neuropsychologists in France. Our work represents a valuable addition to the limited norms currently available for the assessment of executive functions in French young and middle-aged adults.

Automated summary

The aim of this study was to establish demographically adjusted normative data of four executive tests commonly used during neuropsychological assessment in France for adults aged 18-65. It was found that younger age and higher education were associated with better executive performance. Gender had no effect on executive performances. Regression equations to calculate Z-scores were presented, and percentiles were provided for the number of recorded errors on the Trail Making Test, Color Word Interference Test, and Verbal Fluency Test. This work provides reliable and updated norms for the assessment of executive functions in French young and middle-aged adults.