B – 131 Predicting Pediatric Premorbid Intellect: Word Reading and FSIQ

Abstract Objective The purpose of this study is to gain a preliminary assessment of utilizing a reading measure to evaluate pediatric premorbid functioning. Explored was the predictability of word reading via the Woodcock-Johnson IV has on the Full-scale Intelligence Quotient on the WISC-5. The purpose is to explore the use of a pediatric “hold” task in pediatric patients with neurological disorders and/or traumatic brain injury. Word reading is a gold standard method to obtain premorbid functioning; however, these correlations have only been shown in the adult population (Frazen et al., 1997; Bright & Linde, 2018). Method Participants were recruited through archivable neuropsychological data from outpatient neuropsychology clinics in Louisville, Kentucky, between 2022-2024. After review, 57 patients were utilized in the study. Inclusionary requirements were individuals 6-15 years old who received a full WISC-V and the WJ-IV letter-word identification subtest. Exclusionary requirements were those outside of those age ranges and/or were diagnosed with a specific learning disorder in reading. Results A linear regression was utilized to assess the predictability of Intellectual Functioning based on letter-word identification/foundational word reading skills. The regression model demonstrated statistically significant results with word reading being a positive predictor (B = 0.56, p = <.001), accounting for 32% of the variance with FSIQ scores (r2 = 0.32). Conclusion These preliminary results suggest for pediatric patients with neurological injuries, the WJ-IV letter-word identification subtest could potentially predict premorbid FSIQ on the WISC-V. Follow-up studies are encouraged to corroborate the prediction of word reading on FSIQ through a larger sample size and demographic components.