e Assessment of Medication Effects in Attention Deficit Disorder Using the Test of Variables of Attention (T.O.V.A.)

Abstract

Although psychostimulants are frequently used to treat children with attention deficit disorders (ADD), there are few reliable and objective means of predicting and determining treatment outcome. In addition to behavioral ratings, continuous performance tests (CPT) are increasingly being used by clinicians to determine treatment effects. Two experiments are reported in which the Test of Variables of Attention (T.O.V.A.), a computerized visual CPT developed specifically for use with ADD, is the dependent variable to determine its usefulness to assess outcome of methylphenidate (MPH) treatment of children with ADD and to predict (by means of a single challenge dose) which children would be MPH responders. The findings clearly support the use of the T.O.V.A. as part of the clinician's database.