CONCURRENT VALIDITY OF A WAIS-R 7-SUBTEST SHORT-FORM IN PATIENTS WITHBRAIN IMPAIRMENT

The concurrent validity of a Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) seven-subtest short form was examined in 138 patients with c losed-head injuries and 49 patients with presumed dementia. In patient s with closed-head injuries, the average short form IQ score was withi n 1 point of the actual Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQ (VIQ, P IQ, and FSIQ) scores. The validity coefficients for these patients ran ged from .90 to .95. In patients with presumed dementia, the short for m underestimated the average VIQ by nearly 5 points and the average FS IQ by 3.5 points. However, the validity coefficients for these patient s were uniformly high (.91 to .95). Examination of the frequency distr ibutions revealed that there was a percentage of patients whose short form IQs and actual IQs were highly discrepant. Research designed to d etermine the variables that reduce the accuracy of the short form in c linical populations is needed.