Polish Adult Reading Test (PART) - construction of Polish test for estimating the level of premorbid intelligence in schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVES In view of unavailability in Poland of the standardized methods to measure PIQ, the aim of the work was to develop a Polish test to assess the premorbid level of intelligence - PART(Polish AdultReading Test) and to measureits psychometric properties, such as validity, reliability as well as standardization in the group of schizophrenia patients. METHODS The principles of PART construction were based on the idea of popular worldwide National Adult Reading Test by Hazel Nelson. The research comprised a group of 122 subjects (65 schizophrenia patients and 57 healthy people), aged 18-60 years, matched for age and gender. RESULTS PART appears to be a method with high internal consistency and reliability measured by test-retest, inter-rater reliability, and the method with acceptable diagnostic and prognostic validity. The standardized procedures of PART have been investigated and described. CONCLUSIONS Considering the psychometric values of PART and a short time of its performance, the test may be a useful diagnostic instrument in the assessment of premorbid level of intelligence in a group of schizophrenic patients.