PPVT-R as an estimate of premorbid intelligence in older adults

The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R) was examined as an est imate of premorbid intelligence in a clinical sample of elderly patients (N = 150) undergoing clinical neuropsychological evaluation. PPVT-R standard scores were compared across grossly cognitively intact, mildly/ moderately and severely impaired groups of patients, and compared to a short form of t he Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) and the Barona regres sion equation. Results indicate that, while the PPVT-R is vulnerable to inc reasing levels of cognitive impairment among patients with fewer years of e ducation, the PPVT-R is stable across mild to moderate levels of impairment for patients with greater than 12 years of education. In a sub-sample of g rossly cognitively intact patients (n = 91), the PPVT-R standard score corr elated significantly with estimated WAIS-R FSIQ (r = .61). Compared to the Barona equation, the PPVT-R was less likely to over-estimate WAIS-R FSIQ in the grossly cognitively intact patients. These data suggest the PPVT-R to be a useful estimate of premorbid ability for patients with a greater than high-school education.