Most widely-used, continuous performance test for the diagnosis and treatment of attention disorders.

• Age Range: 4-80+ years
• Time: 22 minutes

TOVA-9 is the most updated version of the standard for assessment of attention in clinical practice and research of attention disorders, traumatic brain injury, and other conditions in which attention is affected. It is highly reliable, cost effective, and easily administered, providing relevant and accurate measures of attention and impulsivity, and response to treatment. 

The TOVA-9 promotes data-based clinical decision making with its objective information about attention impulsivity–not obtained from behavior ratings and history. Alone, the TOVA-9 correctly identifies over 86 per cent of ADHD cases, and the “hit rate” improves with the addition of other clinical information.

Promotes Cost Savings
The TOVA-9 can be administered by easily-trained assistance in the primary-care physician’s office, or in a clinic setting. Referrals to specialists, such as neurologists, psychiatrists and psychologists can be more specific and cost-effective. Successful treatment of ADHD reduces incidence of accidents and injuries.

Cost-Effective Treatment Management and Planning
With its unparalleled timing accuracy, the TOVA-9 is extraordinarily sensitive to the effects of treatment, including medication and other therapies, and can be used to accurately determine optimal treatment responses, minimizing treatment side effects and improving treatment compliance. By administering the TOVA-9 at various doses, the dose can be titrated to obtain optimal clinical results, and minimize sequellae, without costly, long clinical trials. It also minimizes the need for treatment of overlying, prominent symptoms, such as depression, anxiety, learning and conduct disorders the may mask ADHD.

Promotes Patient and Family Satisfaction
Provides objective, “state of the art” techniques that patients want, and graphic presentations of results that are easily understood by patients and family, promoting understanding and compliance with treatment.

The TOVA-9 can monitor treatment, over time, with annual retesting to insure continued optimal treatment results, and determine when treatment is no longer necessary. The School Intervention Report is easily edited, personalized and individualized, and facilitates communication with the school, saving valuable, professional time.  

It is also an asset when treating substance abuse, including nicotine dependence, recognizing that over 70 per cent of chemical dependency treatment failures, and many treatment-resistant nicotine cases have underlying, undiagnosed and untreated, ADHD.

TOVA-9 stimuli are non-language based and culture-free (two simple geometric stimuli or two simple tones) and help professionals rule out attention problems, and discriminate attention disorders from learning disabilities, while minimizing cultural differences in assessing attention.
It is used in more than 60 countries around the world.

In the first half of the test (target infrequent), a target is presented randomly (once every 3.5 non-target presentations) to make the task boring and fatiguing. In the second half (target frequent) the subject expects to respond most of the time, but must occasionally inhibit the tendency to respond.  

Like most Continuous Performance Tests (CPT), TOVA-9 uses a fixed, mid-range interstimulus interval (2 sec.) and visual stimuli. However, TOVA-9 stimuli are nonsequential, simple, monochromatic, geometric  configurations. These features, along with the 2.5 minute practice, minimize practice effects, make TOVA-9 ideal for serial measurements.

Mode of response is a particularly important variable that significantly affects test reliability. Unfortunately, most CPTs use the keyboard to record responses., which have inherent time-measurement errors.  TOVA-9 uses a specially-designed microswitch with an insignificant error of measurement, which also minimizes muscle fatigue.

TOVA-9 Measures:

• Variability of Response Time (consistency)
• Response Time
• Commission Errors (impulsivity)
• Omission Errors (inattention)
• Post-commission Response Times
• Multiple/Anticipatory Responses
• ADHD Score compared to specific ADHD group

KEY FEATURES:

*Measures attention, and monitors treatment of attention disorders, including ADHD, Traumatic Brain Injuries and other Central Nervous System (CNS) disorders

*Sufficient duration to “catch” individuals who can partially compensate and attend 10-15 minutes

*Unique two-part paradigm with both infrequent stimulus and frequent stimulus conditions to measure attention, impulsivity, habituation to condition, and response inhibition

*Specially-designed, standardized, highly-accurate electronic microswitch to avoid inherent variability of keyboard and mouse responses

*Symptom Exaggeration Index to flag possible cases of symptom exaggeration or malingering

*Attention Performance Index compares results with identified cases of ADHD

*Integrated Cross-Test Comparisons–to identify treatment effects

*Gender-based norms from 4-80+ years

*Report printed and reviewed immediately after testing

*Results can be compared–up to 4 reports at once

*Reporting of important, new Reaction Time Distribution Parameters–from the Ex-Gaussian reaction time distribution

*Compatible with updated versions of Windows and Mac.  2 GB of memory required.

Two separate tests, TOVA and TOVA-A measure Visual or Auditory processing, respectively, and feature a gender-stratified normative base of over 4,000 children and adults.   It is deliberately long (21.6 minutes) and simple, to effectively test attention variables.  A shorter version (10.9 minutes) is administered to 4-5-year-olds.  The “go/no go” response paradigm avoids confounding variable such as complex information processing and memory.

Each TOVA-9 Kit includes Software, Hardware, Manuals and 5 free Test Credits. Additional Test Credits may be ordered separately.  Please contact us to arrange order of additional credits.