ASSESSMENT OF INTELLECTUAL FUNCTION IN DEMENTING DISORDERS - VALIDITYOF WAIS-R SHORT FORMS FOR PATIENTS WITH ALZHEIMERS HUNTINGTONS, AND PARKINSONS-DISEASE

While commonly administered in the neuropsychological assessment of de mentia, the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) is exce ssively long (70-90 min) and difficult for many patients. The present study examined WAIS-R data from patients with clinically distinct deme nting disorders, including those with Alzheimer's, Huntington's, and P arkinson's disease (N=148). The profiles of performance of these three patient groups across subtests were remarkably similar, suggesting th at the use of a short form would not result in the loss of clinically significant information. The validity of several published short forms was reviewed. Although all of these systematically over- or underesti mated Full Scale IQ for these patients, after a scaling table revision the Kaufman (1990) form appears to provide an accurate estimate of IQ . The use of this short form is therefore recommended to minimize frus tration and fatigue on the part of the patient, and to allow the inclu sion of other tests critical to the evaluation of dementia within a si ngle assessment session.