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The use of word-reading to estimate “premorbid” ability in cognitive domains other than intelligence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2005

DAVID J. SCHRETLEN ,
ANGELA L.H. BUFFINGTON ,
STEPHEN M. MEYER  and
GODFREY D. PEARLSON
DAVID J. SCHRETLEN
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
ANGELA L.H. BUFFINGTON
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
STEPHEN M. MEYER
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
GODFREY D. PEARLSON
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Center, Institute of Living/Hartford Hospital, Hartford, Connecticut Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
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Abstract

Diagnostic neuropsychological assessment requires the clinician to estimate a patient's premorbid abilities. Word reading tests, such as the National Adult Reading Test–Revised (NART–R), provide reasonably accurate estimates of premorbid IQ, but their capacity to benchmark other premorbid cognitive abilities remains unclear. In this extension of an earlier report, we administered the NART–R, an abbreviated Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS–R or WAIS–III), and 26 other cognitive measures to 322 reasonably healthy adults. While NART–R performance correlated robustly (rs ≥ .72) with concurrent Verbal and Full Scale IQ, its correlation with all other cognitive measures was significantly lower. Thus, while it is appealing to use word reading as a proxy for premorbid functioning in other cognitive domains, the NART–R has limited utility for this because it does not predict current performance on other cognitive tests as well as it predicts IQ in healthy adults. (JINS, 2005, 11, 784–787.)

Keywords

Premorbid IQIntelligencePsychological testsNeuropsychologyNational Adult Reading Test–RevisedNART–R
Type
Brief Communication
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 11 , Issue 6 , October 2005 , pp. 784 - 787
Copyright
© 2005 The International Neuropsychological Society

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