Sensitivity and Specificity of Keith's Auditory Continuous Performance Test.

The Auditory Continuous Performance Test (ACPT) was evaluated on one group of subjects who had been diagnosed as having attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and another group for whom ADHD had been ruled out. Although the specificity of the ACPT was acceptably high for a screening test, the sensitivity was very low. The conclusions drawn from these results are limited because of small sample size (n=23). However, until reports based on large study samples are forthcoming, the use of the ACPT as a screening test for ADHD appears questionable.