Development of the Korean Stroop Test and Study of the Validity and the Reliability

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The Stroop color word test is useful to examines the frontal lobe function of selective attention and inhibition. The Korean Color Word Stroop Test(K-CWST) was widely used in Korea. But, it was difficult in elderly individual with low educational level and visual problem and in patients with more progressed dementia. So we developed the Korean Stroop Test(KST). METHODS: The KST consist of word reading(WR), color naming(CN), interference word reading(IWR) and interference color naming (ICN). The interference tasks are naming the ink color of color words which were mismatched with word meaning. We measured reaction time and number of error. This study used the K-CWST to assess and compare the KST in eighteen probable alcohol related dementia patients and nineteen normal control. All subjects received the Korean version of Mini-Mental State Examination (K-MMSE) and the K-CWST and the KST. We tested reliability and validity of the KST. Also we enrolled normal adult from 41 to 80 year old for evaluating the change of the KST test with age. RESULTS: The KST tasks were correlated with K-MMSE -0.33(p<0.05) to -0.63(p<0.001) and K-CWST correlated with K-MMSE 0.37 (p<0.05) to 0.55(p<0.01). The interference color naming of KST was correlated the most to K-MMSE -0.78(p<0.001). The interference color naming of KST and interference color naming of K-CWST was correlated by 0.81(p<0.001). The internal consistency were 0.78 (Cronbach's alpha). The KST score was statistically different between alcohol related dementia patients and normal subjects in CN, ICN and ICN error. The KST was not differ in old age group except some tasks. CONCLUSION: The KST has a excellent reliability and validity. It takes less time and easy than the K-CWST. So the KST is a good test for evaluating frontal lobe function in elderly with low educational level of older people.