Estimating Intelligence in Spanish: Regression Equations With the Word Accentuation Test and Demographic Variables in Latin America

SIERRA SANJURJO, N.; MONTAÑES, P.; SIERRA MATAMOROS, F.; BURIN D. I.

Applied Neuropsychology: Adult

Taylor and Francis

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2015 vol. 22 p. 252 - 261

Spanish is the fourth most spoken language in the world, and the majority of Spanishspeakers have a Latin American origin. Reading aloud infrequently accentuated wordshas been established as a National Adult Reading Test-like method to assess premorbidintelligence in Spanish. However, several versions have been proposed and validated withsmall and selected samples, in particular geographical conditions, and they seldom derivea formula for IQ estimation with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) Full-ScaleIQ (FSIQ). The objective of this study was to develop equations to estimate WAIS-ThirdEdition (WAIS-III) FSIQ from the Word Accentuation Test-Revised (WAT-R), demographicvariables, and their combination within diverse Latin American samples. Twohundred and forty participants from Argentina and Colombia, selected according to ageand years of education strata, were assessed with the WAT-R, the WAIS-III, and a structuredquestionnaire about demographic and medical information. A combined approachincluding place of birth, years of education, and WAT-R provided the best equation,explaining 76% of IQ variance. These equations could be useful for estimatingpremorbid IQ in patients with Latin American Spanish as their birth language.