Abstract
Objective
Estimating premorbid intellectual functioning after brain injury is a critical element of determining cognitive decline. However, little research has been conducted on how Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-IV) performs in adults after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Given that PPVT measures receptive vocabulary, it has potential to serve as a hold measure test. The objective was to explore characteristics of PPVT in TBI relative to a commonly used proxy of premorbid function (Wechsler Test of Adult Reading, WTAR).
Method
Sixty-one adults with moderate to severe TBI underwent a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation and structural neuroimaging. Principal components analyses were used to create cognitive composite scores. Pearson’s correlations were conducted to explore the relationships between PPVT/WTAR standard scores (SS) and neuropathology (white matter integrity as whole brain functional anisotropy [FA]). The relationships between PPVT/WTAR SSs and cognitive constructs were similarly examined.
Results
PPVT was significantly related to FA (r = 0.34, p = 0.014). However, there was no relationship between WTAR and neuropathology. PPVT was significantly related to age (r = 0.38, p = 0.006), so this variable was controlled for in associated analyses (NB. WTAR was not related to age). PPVT was found to be significantly related to contextualized and noncontextualized memory, attention, executive function, and processing speed (all ps < 0.05). In contrast, WTAR was only significantly related to contextualized memory, attention, and executive function.
Conclusions
PPVT appears to be impacted by neuropathology, indicating that it may not be appropriate as a hold measure after TBI. This may be explained by PPVT’s significant relationship with fluid intelligence domains known to be impacted after neurologic insult.
The Co-Occurring Development of Executive Function Skills and Receptive Vocabulary in Preschool-Aged Children: A Look at the Direction of the Developmental Pathways
