TELPI
TELPI
            *Corresponding author at: R. da Telheira 459, C13. 4250 Paranhos, Porto, Portugal. Tel.:+351-962-779-172; Fax: +351-229-416-699.
                                                       E-mail address: laralves79@gmail.com (L. Alves).
                                                               Accepted 3 November 2011
Abstract
   Information regarding cognitive abilities in earlier stages of life is essential to ascertain if and to what extent these may have declined.
When unavailable, clinicians rely on estimate methods. One of the contemporary methods used worldwide combines performance on irregu-
lar word reading test with demographics since it has shown to provide reliable estimates of premorbid ability. Hence, a reading test portuguese
irregular word reading test (TeLPI) was developed, filling an important gap in the neuropsychological evaluation of Portuguese speakers.
Using 46 irregular, infrequent Portuguese words, TeLPI was validated against Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)-III (N ¼ 124),
and regression-based equations were determined to estimate premorbid IQ considering TeLPI scores and demographic variables. TeLPI
scores accounted for 63% of the variance of WAIS-III Full-Scale IQ, 62% of Verbal IQ, and 47% of Performance IQ and thus were consid-
ered valid for premorbid intelligence estimation.
Introduction
   To characterize the extent to which an individual’s cognitive abilities have declined, knowledge of cognitive performance in
earlier stages of life is essential (Mackinnon, Ritchie, & Mulligan, 1999). In fact, the very concept of cognitive deficit assumes
the existence of some previous normal or ideal level of functioning, against which patient outcomes can be compared and mea-
sured in a reliable and valid way (APA, 1998; Lezak, Howieson, & Loring, 2004; Mackinnon et al., 1999). However, such
information is rarely available (Matsuoka, Masatake, Kasal, Koyama, & Kim, 2006), and therefore alternative methods for
estimating premorbid ability (premorbid intelligence or IQ) must be used instead (Schoenberg, Lange, Marsh, & Saklofske,
2011). Several approaches for estimating premorbid IQ have been suggested. Some take into account qualitative data such
as the individual’s school and occupational records, family reports as well as socio-economic and educational levels
(Crawford & Allan, 1997). Although reasonable findings can result from a qualitative estimation of premorbid intelligence
(Baade & Schoenberg, 2004), there are several errors/deviations that may skew its accuracy (Kareken & Williams, 1994).
In response to this problem, a variety of quantitative methods for estimating premorbid intelligence were developed
(Franzen, Burgess, & Smith-Seemiller, 1997; Lezak et al., 2004) based on (a) resistant measures, (b) demographic equations,
(c) reading tests, and (d) combined demographic and ability methods (e.g., Yates, 1956; Oklahoma Premorbid Intelligence
Estimate-3: OPIE-3, Schoenberg, Scott, Duff, & Adams, 2002).
   Premorbid estimation methods based solely on the current performance on resistant measures, such as the highest single subtest
score on the WAIS (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale; Wechsler, 2008) or the WAIS vocabulary score, have fallen out of clinical
use (Schoenberg et al., 2011). This can largely be attributed to research that has shown vocabulary tests, which require oral
# The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
doi:10.1093/arclin/acr103 Advance Access publication on 2 December 2011
                                  L. Alves et al. / Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology 27 (2012) 58–68                          59
definitions and access to semantic word meaning, to be more vulnerable to brain damage (Del Ser, González-Montalvo,
Martinez-Espinosa, Delgado-Villapalos, & Bermejo, 1997; Fuld, 1983) than verbal tests with briefer responses requiring only rec-
ognition or calling on practical experience (Lezak et al., 2004). Irregular word reading tests were subsequently developed (e.g., Del
Ser et al., 1997; O’Carroll & Gilleard, 1986) with the rationale that, in cases of cognitive decline, the phonological component of
language involved in reading aloud is better preserved than the semantic component, as phonology appears to be less dependent on
the integrity of higher cognitive process than semantics (Bayles & Boone, 1982).
   The reading paradigm has gained great acceptance in neuropsychological assessment and various instruments for estimating
premorbid IQ have been developed worldwide: the National Adult Reading Test (NART; Nelson, 1982), the North American
Adult Reading Test (Blair & Spreen, 1989), the American Adult Reading Test (Grober & Sliwinski, 1991), the French NART
(Mackinnon et al., 1999), the Word Accentuation Test (WAT) in Spain (Del Ser et al., 1997), the Wechsler Test of Adult
Reading (WTAR; The Psychological Corporation, 2001), the Japanese NART (JART; Matsuoka et al., 2006), the Swedish
NART (NART-SWE; Rolstad et al., 2008), the Hopkins Adult Reading Test (HART; Schretlen et al., 2009), the Test of
Premorbid Functioning (TOPF; NCS Pearson Corporation, 2009), and TOPF-UK (NCS Pearson Corporation, 2011).
   The task on these instruments consists of reading aloud about 50 (depending on the instrument) irregular and infrequent native
words graded by difficulty. The individual’s result corresponds to the number of reading errors. Given that intelligent guesswork
Methods
   Since reading tests that assess premorbid IQ are based on orthographic irregularities that are specific to a given language, the
construction of a comparable test for the Portuguese population could not be accomplished by merely translating the items
60                                   L. Alves et al. / Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology 27 (2012) 58–68
(words) of existing tests. Words in the target language must share properties with those used in these tests and must furthermore
represent the native vocabulary. Hence, a preliminary study was conducted for the purpose of selecting a group of irregular
words that were best suited for predicting IQ in a sample of healthy subjects. Having defined basic criteria for determining
letter-sound irregularity, the first step consisted of selecting all of the eligible irregular words (e.g., ubiquidade “ubiquity”/
guia “guide”/exame “exam”/caixa “box”) listed in the Portuguese lexical frequency database “Corlex” (Centro de
Linguı́stica da Universidade de Lisboa, 2003), from a total number of 16,210,438, thus obtaining 1,417 irregular words.
Subsequently, all irregular words with a frequency rate on CORLEX above 27 (frequent and very frequent words) were elimi-
nated and further refined linguistic criteria (elimination of technical jargon, or numerals, for instance) led to the final selection
of 105 words considered suitable for the purposes of the experimental version of TeLPI (Alves, Simões, & Martins, 2010). In
order to define coding criteria, a phonetic transcription (The International Phonetic Association, 2005) was provided for each
word. Materials included a score sheet with the pronunciation criteria as well as a test book in which each word was presented
separately and printed in a bold, 18-point font. In testing, TeLPI was introduced to the examinee as follows: “I will be showing
you some words that I’d like you to read slowly out loud. Some words you may not recognize, but try reading them anyway.”
For all participants, responses were recorded in digital audio format to ensure accurate scoring.
    The 105 wordlist was applied on a sample of 130 healthy, community-dwelling Portuguese speakers that were born and had
Results
   After all exclusion criteria were applied, the validation sample included 124 subjects, 64 men (51.6%) and 60 women
(48.4%), with an average age of 48.20 years (SD ¼ 18.71; min ¼ 16; max ¼ 86). The average of years of education was
10.31 (SD ¼ 4.375; min ¼ 4; max ¼ 20). Note that the educational level of the Portuguese population is typically low
(mean education of the Portuguese population ¼ 8.16; SD ¼ 4.72; INE, 2011), given that 27.2% have ≤4 years of education.
The mean MMSE score was 29.04 (SD ¼ 1.185), ranging from 25 to 30, and the mean MoCA score was 26.53 (SD ¼ 2.923),
ranging from 15 to 30. The mean FSIQ was 109 (SD ¼ 17.94; min ¼ 66, max ¼ 146), the mean VIQ was 110 (SD ¼ 17.98;
min ¼ 63, max ¼ 147), and the mean PIQ was 107 (SD ¼ 16.69; min ¼ 67, max ¼ 149). The mean errors given on TeLPI (105
words) were 15.40 (SD ¼ 11.60; min ¼ 1, max ¼ 62; Table 1). As observed in Table 1, descriptive statistics of the sample ≥25
years of age are also presented. Demographic statistics do not differ in great extent when comparing the total sample (≥16
years of age) to the ≥24 years of age subgroup sample. These data are relevant to the full understanding of the final TeLPI
equations (see Results and Discussion sections). Descriptive statistics of the sample by age group are presented in Table 2.
                                         L. Alves et al. / Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology 27 (2012) 58–68                             61
                                                                       Sample group
                                                                        ≥16 years of age                                       ≥25 years of age
N                                                                      124                                                     105
Age
  Mean                                                                 48.20                                                   53.29
  Minimum– maximum                                                     16–86                                                   25–86
  Standard deviation                                                   18.71                                                   15.57
Years of schooling
  Mean                                                                 10.31                                                   10.10
  Minimum– maximum                                                     4 –20                                                   4 –20
  Standard deviation                                                   4.37                                                    4.60
MMSE
  Mean                                                                 29.04                                                   28.97
  Minimum– maximum                                                     25–30                                                   25–30
  Standard deviation                                                   1.18                                                    1.19
    In the sample of 124 healthy subjects, TeLPI scores exhibited high and significant correlations with FSIQ, r(122) ¼ .753,
p , .001, and VIQ, r(122) ¼ .732, p , .001. Correlations with PIQ were also significant, although proving to be lower—
r(122) ¼ .655, p , .001. The highest WAIS-III subtest correlation occurred on Vocabulary, r(122) ¼ .787, p , .001, and
Information scores, r(122) ¼ .716, p , .001. The correlations between the TeLPI and MoCA scores were significant and mod-
erate, r(122) ¼ .532, p , .001, and between the TeLPI and MMSE results, even if somewhat lower, were also significant,
r(122) ¼ .415, p , .001. The correlation between MMSE and MoCA, r(122) ¼ .627, p , .001, is moderate and significant
and correlations between MMSE and WAIS-III FSIQ, r(122) ¼ .493, p , .001, and between MoCA and WAIS-III FSIQ,
r(122) ¼ .413, p , .001, though both significant are considered to be weak.
    TeLPI items exhibiting a correlation with the total test score or with the WAIS-III scores ,.400 were excluded. Also
excluded were five words that had no discriminative power (zero-variance: words that all participants read correctly or incor-
rectly) and two words that had a damaging effect on the internal consistency of TeLPI (Cronbach’s a difference of 0.150).
Therefore, 59 words were eliminated leaving the final version of the TeLPI with 46 items. After the removal of these
items, TeLPI maintained similar correlations (Table 3). The remaining 46 words were rearranged in ascending order of diffi-
culty. The easiest word was correctly pronounced by 97.6% of the sample and the most difficult by 46.8%. The internal con-
sistency (Cronbach’s a) of the selected 46 items is 0.939, and thus considered excellent. Table 4 presents the reliability
62                                          L. Alves et al. / Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology 27 (2012) 58–68
                                    Age group
                                    16–24                    25– 44               45– 54                55–64        ≥65                 Total
N                                   19                       29                   26                    25           25                  124
Years of schooling
  Mean                              11.53                    11.34                9.73                  9.48         9.64                10.31
  Minimum                           9                        4                    4                     4            4                   4
  Maximum                           17                       20                   17                    17           18                  20
  Standard deviation                2.50                     5.23                 4.33                  4.20         4.49                4.37
FSIQ
  Mean                              110.37                   107.14               110.31                104.72       115.92              109
  Minimum                           68                       66                   74                    66           72                  66
  Maximum                           129                      146                  143                   146          145                 146
  Standard deviation                12.52                    22.59                17.71                 16.36        16.30               17.93
VIQ
  Mean                              108.58                   106.45               109.53                105.36       120.80              110
Table 3. Correlations of the TeLPI with external criteria (WAIS-III, MMSE, MoCA, and education)
                                                                      TeLPI (105 words)                                       TeLPI (46 words)
WAIS-III scores
  FSIQ                                                                .753                                                    .729
  VIQ                                                                 .732                                                    .695
  PIQ                                                                 .655                                                    .651
  Vocabulary                                                          .787                                                    .761
  Information                                                         .716                                                    .689
  Comprehension                                                       .543                                                    .513
  Similarities                                                        .658                                                    .624
  Picture completion                                                  .472                                                    .493
  Block design                                                        .569                                                    .490
  Matrix reasoning                                                    .548                                                    .540
  Symbol search                                                       .472                                                    .490
  Arithmetic                                                          .482                                                    .451
MMSE                                                                  .415                                                    .431
MoCA                                                                  .532                                                    .552
Years of education                                                    .637                                                    .600
Notes: WAIS ¼ Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale; FSIQ ¼ Full-Scale IQ; VIQ ¼ Verbal IQ; PIQ ¼ Performance IQ; MMSE ¼ Mini-Mental State
Examination; MoCA ¼ Montreal Cognitive Assessment. Correlation is significant at the .01 level (two-tailed).
coefficients by age in the sample studied. The younger age group has a relatively weaker consistency that could be influenced
by years of schooling (Table 2) but no significant differences were found between age groups, F(4, 119) ¼ 1.26, p . .05, and
therefore, this result could be related to TeLPI’s specificity in assessing crystallized intelligence, which is largely maintained or
even improved into old age (Hertzog, 2011).
    TeLPI test– retest reliability was examined on a sample of 60 subjects divided into two groups. The test– retest reliability of
group 1 (N ¼ 30), with a delay of approximately 4 months and an average of 143.57 days (SD ¼ 42.51; min ¼ 68; max ¼ 200),
was 0.95—r(28) ¼ .95, p , .001. The second group (N ¼ 30) was tested with a delay of 18 months and an average of 538.85
days (SD ¼ 110.19; min ¼ 201; max ¼ 676) and presented a test–retest reliability of 0.98—r(28) ¼ .98, p , .001.
    In the TeLPI’s final version (46 words), no significant gender effects were found, t(124) ¼ 1.670, and age was also not sig-
nificantly correlated with TeLPI scores, r(122) ¼ .091. Consistent with these data are correlations between age and FSIQ,
                                         L. Alves et al. / Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology 27 (2012) 58–68                                63
Table 4. Internal consistency reliability coefficients for the Portuguese validation sample by age
16–24                                                                                                                               0.795
25–44                                                                                                                               0.954
45–54                                                                                                                               0.945
55–64                                                                                                                               0.901
≥65                                                                                                                                 0.962
Total                                                                                                                               0.939
r(122) ¼ .024, VIQ, r(122) ¼ .145, and PIQ, r(122) ¼ .146, that were also not significant for the 124 subjects of the sample.
Years of education correlated significantly with performance on TeLPI, r(122) ¼ .600, p , .001, as well as with FSIQ,
r(122) ¼ .661, p , .001, VIQ, r(122) ¼ .662, p , .001, and PIQ, r(122) ¼ .546, p , .001. As an additional validity test, a sig-
nificant linear regression was obtained entering FSIQ scores, years of education, and age as predictors for TeLPI scores. FSIQ
was a strong predictor, b ¼ 20.729, t(121) ¼ 211.75, p , .001, explaining, by itself, 52.7% of the variance in the TeLPI
scores, adjusted R 2 ¼ .527, F(1, 122) ¼ 138.22, p , .001, whereas years of education appeared to be a weaker predictor,
b ¼ 20.210, t(121) ¼ 22.61, p , .001, accounting for only an additional 2% of this variance, adjusted R 2 ¼ .549, F(2,
121) ¼ 75.78, p , .001. As such, age did not result as a significant predictor—b ¼ 0.064, t(120) ¼ 1.00, p . .05.
    To estimate the equivalent intellectual level measured by the WAIS-III, three significant stepwise linear regression equa-
tions were obtained from the sample of 124 healthy subjects with the two significant predictors found (TeLPI scores and
years of education). Using FSIQ as a dependent variable, the regression equations revealed a significant model, b ¼ 0.350,
t(121) ¼ 4.927, p , .001, predicting 60.3% of the variance of FSIQ, adjusted R 2 ¼ .603, F(2, 121) ¼ 94.44, p , .001; 57%
of VIQ, b ¼ 0.383, t(121) ¼ 5.19, p , .001 and adjusted R 2 ¼ .570, F(2, 121) ¼ 82.49, p , .001; and 45.3% of PIQ, b ¼
0.243, t(121) ¼ 2.92, p , .01 and adjusted R 2 ¼ .453, F(2, 121) ¼ 51.98, p , .001. The equations are the following:
        (a) TeLPI predicted WAIS-III FSIQ ¼ 100.645 + (21.165 × number of errors on the TeLPI) + (1.604 × number of
            school years completed);
        (b) TeLPI predicted WAIS-III VIQ ¼ 100.987 + (21.064 × number of errors on the TeLPI) + (1.576 × number of
            school years completed);
        (c) TeLPI predicted WAIS-III FSIQ ¼ 104.945 + (21.075 × number of errors on the TeLPI) + (0.926 × number of
            school years completed).
Since the TeLPI is assumed to assess crystallized intelligence (presumably stable in adulthood), and given the first results and
the lower values of Cronbach’s a (0.795) in ages ranging from 16 to 24, we tried to enhance the percentage of explained vari-
ance by excluding subjects under 25 years of age from the sample, then computing new correlations and linear regressions with
the remaining 105 subjects. Descriptive statistics of the sample ≥25 years of age is presented in Table 1. The regression equa-
tions for subjects 25 years and older increases explained variance from 60.3% to 63% of the FSIQ, b ¼ 0.391, t(102) ¼ 5.26,
p , .001 and adjusted R 2 ¼ .633, F(2, 102) ¼ 90.50, p , .001, from 57% to 62.3% of the VIQ, b ¼ 0.434, t(102) ¼ 5.77 p ,
.001 and adjusted R 2 ¼ .623, F(2, 102) ¼ 87.05, p , .001, and from 45.3% to 47.2% of the PIQ, b ¼ 0.272, t(102) ¼ 3.02,
p , .01 and adjusted R 2 ¼ .472, F(2, 102) ¼ 47.54, p , .001, using TeLPI scores and years of education (Table 5) as predic-
tors. These results are consistent with the fact that crystallized intelligence is reasonably stable in adulthood and after the com-
pletion of basic and formal school education (Hertzog, 2011). The regression equations are as follows:
        (a) TeLPI predicted WAIS-III FSIQ ¼ 102.046 + (21.153 × number of errors on the TeLPI) + (1.534 × number of
            school years completed);
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Table 6. Correlations between TeLPI predicted IQ and observed IQ in subjects ≥25 years of age (n ¼ 105)
       (b) TeLPI predicted WAIS-III VIQ ¼ 99.872 + (21.017 × number of errors on the TeLPI) + (1.755 × number of
           school years completed);
       (c) TeLPI predicted WAIS-III FSIQ ¼ 103.644 + (21.031 × number of errors on the TeLPI) + (1.019 × number of
           school years completed).
    These models showed standard errors of the estimate (SEest) of 11.39 points for TeLPI predictors of FSIQ, 11.44 for VIQ, and
12.55 for PIQ. Using these equations, the predicted IQ for each individual ≥25 years of age was determined (n ¼ 105). As presented
in Table 6, the correlations (Pearson’s r) between predicted and observed FSIQ, r(103) ¼ .80, p , .001, VIQ, r(103) ¼ .79, p ,
.001, and PIQ, r(103) ¼ .69, p , .001, for subjects in this group were high and significant. The Pearson correlation between the
predicted and the actual IQ scores ranged from .69 to .80, reflecting minimal “shrinkage” of predictive accuracy. The TeLPI
scores predicted FSIQ scores and these were also significantly correlated with all of the nine subtests of the WAIS-III used. The
paired-samples t-test revealed that estimates of all three pairs of predicted and observed FSIQ, t(104) ¼ 0.089, p . .05, VIQ,
t(104) ¼ 0.153, p . .05, and PIQ, t(104) ¼ 20.005, p . .05, scores based on TeLPI and years of education equations were not
significantly different. These results demonstrate that predictive models based on the sample have minimal loss of fidelity.
    To examine the TeLPI’s predicted accuracy in detail, individual estimates were examined (Table 7): the difference between actual
WAIS-III FSIQ and TeLPI predicted FSIQ score is 0.097 points. 85% of the sample TeLPI predicted FSIQ fell within 1 SEest. The
percentage of cases in which predicted TeLPI FSIQ fell within +5, +10, +15, and +20 points of their actual FSIQ, as well as
difference in WAIS-III category classification (ranging from “extremely low” to “very superior”) between TeLPI FSIQ estimates
and real FSIQ are also presented in Table 7. No wrong classifications were predicted by TeLPI in more than 20 points (or two de-
scriptive categories of WAIS-III). Most estimating errors across IQ categories pertain to individuals with FSIQ above 120 and fewer
to individuals with FSIQ under 89. TeLPI correctly accounted for 71% of the subjects’ IQ within +5 points of their actual FSIQ,
85% within +10 points, 91% within +15 points, and all of the subjects’ IQ within +20 points.
Discussion
   This study presents a Portuguese word reading test (TeLPI) specially designed to assess premorbid intelligence. An experi-
mental version of TeLPI with 105 words was initially constructed but the list was then shortened to 46 items, corresponding to
the words that most correlate with FSIQ (WAIS-III).
   TeLPI final version has showed to have an excellent internal consistency, in line with other reading tests (e.g., HART,
WTAR) that range from 0.80 to 0.97 (Schretlen et al., 2009; The Psychological Corporation, 2001). TeLPI scores seem to
be stable since its test– retest reliability is high in both 4 and 18 months delay groups. Similar tests have also reported com-
parable test–retest reliabilities, such as the NART-R (0.98; Crawford, Parker, Stewart, Besson, & De Lacey, 1989; O’Carroll,
1987) and the WTAR (ranging from 0.90 to 0.94; The Psychological Corporation, 2001). The average performance on the
TeLPI appears to be stable over time, indicating that previous exposure does not improve performance.
   TeLPI also presents high correlations with FSIQ congruent with previous studies with other similar tests (e.g., NART, WAT,
JART) that typically report moderate to high correlations from .40 to .88 (Del Ser et al., 1997; Matsuoka et al., 2006; Strauss,
                                                                                                                                                                                               L. Alves et al. / Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology 27 (2012) 58–68
Table 7. Descriptive statistics of differences between predicted and actual WAIS-III FSIQ scores (N ¼ 105)
             Actual IQ (mean Min/max       Predicted IQ       Min/      Mean differencea    Percent   Percent       Percent      Percent      Percent with- Percent within   Percent within
             [SD])           Actual        (mean [SD])        Max       (SD)                within +5 within        within       within       in the same   previous/fol-    two categoriesb
                             FSIQ                             Pred.                         points    +10           +15          +20          categoryb     lowing           under or above
                                                              FSIQ                                    points        points       points                     categoryb
TeLPI        109.44 (18.793)   66/146      109.34 (14.948)    66/130     0.097 (11.284)      71           85         91          100          40             71              100
Extremely     67.60 (1.517)    66/69        76.13 (7.709)     67/84     28.528 (6.291)      100          100        100          100          20             60              100
  low
Borderline       74 (2.000)    72/76        78.59 (8.956)     71/89     24.588 (7.043)      100          100        100          100          67            100              100
Low           85.75 (3.012)    81/89        95.64 (14.991)    66/115    29.888 (13.182)      88           88         88          100           8             63              100
  average
Average      101.83 (6.061)    91/109      106.10 (10.975)    75/129    24.273 (10.429)      89              91      94          100          46             91              100
High         114.45 (2.686)    110/119     114.92 (6.668)     97/127    20.467 (6.098)       86              95     100          100          64            100              100
  average
Superior     123.94 (2.461)    120/128     119.34 (6.852)     100/128     4.60278 (6.586)    56              89     100          100          44             94              100
Very           138 (5.189)     132/146     122.09 (5.927)     110/130    15.908 (7.728)       0              36      36          100           7             57              100
  superior
Notes: WAIS ¼ Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale; FSIQ ¼ Full-Scale IQ.
a
 Difference ¼ TeLPI predicted FSIQ 2 actual FSIQ.
b
  Category ¼ descriptive IQ category defined in the WAIS-III: ≤69 ¼ extremely low, 70–79 ¼ inferior, 80–89 ¼ low average, 90–109 ¼ average, 120–129 ¼ superior, ≥130 ¼ very superior.
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Sherman, & Spreen, 2006). Although correlations between WAIS-III FSIQ and TeLPI are considered high and those between
MMSE and MoCA are, as expected, moderate, the weak correlations found between TeLPI and MMSE, on one hand, and
TeLPI and MoCA, on the other, are worthy of some observations. The weak correlation between MMSE and WAIS-III
FSIQ and between MoCA and WAIS-III FSIQ can give some insight into these results. In fact, while MMSE and MoCA,
as brief cognitive screening tests, assess mental status of patients, WAIS-III and TeLPI (in healthy subjects) both assess intel-
ligence. Note that correlation between MoCA and MMSE is n’t higher since MoCA assesses different and more complex cog-
nitive domains than MMSE, such as executive functions, visuospatial abilities, language, attention, concentration, and working
memory (Freitas et al., 2011; Nasreddine et al., 2005).
    Three regression equations were presented that can be used for accurate premorbid intelligence estimation. In this study,
combining TeLPI performance with demographic information accounted for significantly more variance in FSIQ, VIQ, and
PIQ than performance on TeLPI alone, especially in healthy subjects 25 years of age or higher. Nevertheless, a set of regression
equations for subjects ≥16 years of age were also presented given their potential usefulness in clinical settings.
    Although other studies involving reading tests have showed a significant improvement of premorbid IQ estimation when
demographic variables such as race, age, or gender are taken into consideration in the regression formulas (e.g., Rolstad
et al., 2008; Schretlen et al., 2009), only the variable years of education has showed to be significant in the models derived
premorbid intelligence instruments that use regression formulas, particularly in cases of extreme scores (Schoenberg et al.,
2011; Veil & Koopman, 2001).
    One possible criticism to TeLPI estimations is that the SEest associated with IQ predictions were higher than similar tests
reflecting less accurate predictions than those reported by Blair and Spreen (1989) for the NART-R or the OPIE-3 (Schoenberg
et al., 2002). High SEest have also been reported by Schretlen and colleagues (2009) regarding the HART, which includes
NART-R items in its final version. Also note that the sample IQ scores were prorated using nine subtests of WAIS-III
rather than the full WAIS-III (12 subtests). Although VIQ and PIQ are very similar and trustworthy, even when the available
prorating option is used for calculating the IQs by five verbal and four performance subtests for the IQ estimations, the total
measurement error could be greater than reported and should be considered as another limitation of the present study.
    Evaluating premorbid IQ is an important step in neuropsychological assessment and has obvious potential in clinical set-
tings. TeLPI predicted FSIQ is likely to be a useful method for estimating premorbid IQ, providing a measure against which a
patient’s current performance can be compared. Although other data sources, particularly academic records, may offer add-
itional information from which premorbid cognitive functioning can be inferred (Baade & Schoenberg, 2004), premorbid
IQ estimation instruments offer enhanced reliability in the diagnosis of cognitive deterioration. The TeLPI is easy to apply,
short, well tolerated, exhibits excellent concurrent validity, and is, overall, valid for premorbid intelligence estimation in a
Funding
This research was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (SFRH/BD/37748/2007).
Conflict of Interest
None declared.
References
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