Citation

Steward KA, Novack TA, Kennedy R, Crowe M, Marson DC, Triebel KL. Arch. Clin. Neuropsychol. 2016; 32(1): 98-103.

Affiliation

Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1093/arclin/acw081

PMID

27799224

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The current study sought to determine whether the Wechsler Test of Adult Reading (WTAR) provides a stable estimate of premorbid intellectual ability in acutely injured patients recovering from traumatic brain injury (TBI).

METHOD: A total of 135 participants (43 mild TBI [mTBI], 40 moderate/severe TBI [msevTBI], 52 healthy controls) were administered the WTAR at 1 and 12 months post-injury.

RESULTS: Despite similar demographic profiles, participants with msevTBI performed significantly worse than controls on the WTAR at both time points. Moreover, the msevTBI group had a significant improvement in WTAR performance over the 1-year period. In contrast, those participants with mTBI did not significantly differ from healthy controls and both the mTBI and control groups demonstrated stability on the WTAR over time.

CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that word-reading tests may underestimate premorbid intelligence during the immediate recovery period for patients with msevTBI. Clinicians should consider alternative estimation measures in this TBI subpopulation.

© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Language: en