Determination of the premorbid intelligence using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale as an effective way to verify and assess neurocognitive deficit in the Chernobyl clean-up workers
Journal Title: Український неврологічний журнал - Year 2018, Vol 0, Issue 1
Abstract
Objective — to determine the neuropsychological features of cognitive disorders in chronic cerebrovascular pathology in the remote period after the Chernobyl disaster in the Chernobyl cleanup workers by using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), to estimate the degree of cognitive decline in the study groups based on the difference between premorbid (preemergency) and actual general IQ. Methods and subjects. Neuropsychological examination using an adapted version of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) for the Russian population (Filimonenko & Timofeev 2012) was administered to 138 individuals, including 114 Chernobyl cleanup workers (100 of them in the main group and 14 in the internal control group, irradiated at doses of less than 20 mGy) and 24 unexposed individuals. For further statistical analysis, two groups were formed: the main group (the Chernobyl cleanup workers irradiated at doses of more than 20 mGy, n = 100) and the comparison group (the joint group of external and internal control) (n = 38). Three different grades of the actual and premorbid IQ were determined: Full IQ (FIQ), Verbal IQ (VIQ), and nonverbal or Performance IQ (PIQ). Cognitive deficit was determined on the basis of the difference between the indices of the actual and premorbid IQ. Premorbid IQ was calculated using the regression equation by B. Gao (Gao 2000). The grade profile for 11 subtests of the WAIS scale in the study groups was analyzed. Results. The mean levels of the actual verbal, performance and general IQ both in the Chernobyl cleanup workers irradiated at doses of more than 20 mGy and in the comparison group were within the «normal» intelligence range. However, in the cleanup workers irradiated at doses of more than 20 mGy the levels of the actual general and verbal IQ were lower than in the comparison group (p < 0.01). Both groups differed markedly in the discrepancy between the actual nonverbal and verbal IQ (pIQ – vIQ) (p = 0.001). In the main group, moderate deficit both of the actual total IQ (p < 0.01) and verbal IQ (p < 0.001) was found in comparison with the premorbid level of intelligence. In the main group there was also a selective reduction in the scores for particular, mostly verbal, subtests of the WAIS: «Information» (p = 0.017), «Comprehension» (p = 0.000), «Arithmetic» (p = 0.009) «Similarities» (p = 0.023), «Digit Span» (p = 0.002), «Vocabulary» (p = 0.04) and «Picture Arrangement» (p = 0.02). The linear regression relationship with the radiation dose for the subtest «Picture Completion» grades was revealed when irradiated at doses > 0.3 Gy. Conclusions. When exposed to low doses of ionizing radiation of more than 20 mGy, there was a slight and moderate intellectual deficit due to a predominant decrease in verbal IQ, which may indicate accelerated radiation aging of the brain. A linear regression relationship with a radiation dose for the subtest «Picture Completion» grades was found when irradiated at doses > 0.3 Gy, which may indicate a dosedependent deficit of perceptive attention in individuals irradiated at doses more than 0.3 Gy. The premorbid coefficient of intelligence (Premorbid IQ) assessment is a reliable criterion for the loss of cognitive functioning expertise. The most radiosensitive neuroanatomical structures are the neocortex and corticolimbic system in the left dominant hemisphere.
Authors and Affiliations
K. N. Loganovsky, K. V. Kuts
Keywords
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