Predicting premorbid IQ: A revision of the national adult reading test

Abstract

The National Adult Reading Test (NART) has promise as an assessment tool for the determination of premorbid intellectual function, but needs to be modified for current use in a North American population and validated against the WAIS-R. A revision based on American and Canadian pronunciation rules was prepared. Sixty-six unimpaired subjects were tested with a revised NART and all subtests of the WAIS-R. Demographic variables were also recorded. Correlations between actual VIQ, PIQ and FSIQ, and predicted IQs on the basis of revised NART score were .83, .40, and .75, respectively (all p < .001). Prediction of IQs was more accurate with equations based on revised NART score than with demographic variable prediction equations developed by Barona, Reynolds, and Chastain (1984).