Nithsdale schizophrenia surveys 21: a longitudinal study of National Adult Reading Test stability.
BACKGROUND
The stability of the National Adult Reading Test (NART) as a measure of pre-morbid intelligence in schizophrenia has not yet been satisfactorily established despite the widespread use of the NART in schizophrenia research.


METHODS
We examined NART stability in a diverse group of 45 schizophrenic patients in a prospective longitudinal study over 6.5-7.5 years.


RESULTS
The results showed that NART performance does not decline significantly with increasing duration of schizophrenic illness and that test-retest reliability, even over 6.5-7.5 years, is extremely high.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results provide the necessary evidence that the NART can be used as a stable measure of pre-morbid intelligence in schizophrenia.
Morrison
G
G
Department of Clinical Research, Crichton Royal Hospital, Dumfries, Scotland.
Sharkey
V
V
Allardyce
J
J
Kelly
R C
RC
McCreadie
R G
RG
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004410:Dyslexia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007361:Intelligence Tests / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity