title: Measuring improvement or decline on the WAIS-R in inpatient psychiatry.
abstract: Psychologists in inpatient psychiatric settings sometimes are asked to assess whether patients improve or decline in intellectual functioning. The impetus for this referral question may be a perceived change in psychiatric status, an acute neuropathological event, e.g., a head injury, or a suspicion of an early dementing process. For this study, data from 100 inpatients who completed the WAIS-R on two separate admissions were used to calculate confidence bands for measurement error surrounding test-retest difference scores. The analysis indicated that, if the retest interval is three months or less, significant practice effects must be factored into the interpretation of difference scores. A table for the interpretation of difference scores at different testing intervals is provided
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Riverview Hospital, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Iverson
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Green
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002170:Canada; D003704:Dementia / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D008875:Middle Aged; D010351:Patient Discharge; D011379:Prognosis; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014888:Wechsler Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*