A comparison of the trail making test, symbol digit modalities test, and the Hooper Visual Organization Test in an inpatient substance abuse population.

Ninety inpatients from a substance abuse treatment facility each completed the Symbol Digit Modalities Test, the Trail Making Test and a novel, group-administered form of the Hooper Visual Organization Test. Patients exhibited varying degrees of impairment on all three instruments compared to available norms. The correlations among the tests were all statistically significant. The lowest inter-test correlations were obtained on the Hooper Visual Organization Test. The utility of global neuropsychological screening instruments with inpatient substance abusers' is discussed in light of these findings.