[A psychometric study of a group of Parkinsonian patients]

A group of 45 parkinsoniens patients were studied by means of Wechsler's adult intelligence scale (WAIS). The mean verbal intelligence quotient (VIQ) was not significantly different from that of the theoretical mean of the general population, whereas the performance intelligence quotient (PIQ) was significantly lower. Superior verbal over performance scale ratings were found significantly more frequently in the parkinsonian group than in the general population. Dispersion analysis tended to show that some parkinsonian patients have a fairly marked reduction in intelligence efficiency which is frequent enough to give the "psychometric pattern" of the parkinsonian group a dynamic which clearly distinguishes it from the general population, and makes it closer to that of the "psychometric pattern" seen in patients with organic brain disease. The psychometric deterioration quotient (DQ) in the parkinsonian group is significantly higher than in the general population: it is difficult to attribute this finding to depression, motor disorders, or senile or arteriopathic involution. The mean DQ is higher in men than in women; it is independent of the previous level of intelligence. Bilateral akinetic forms are associated with the greatest reduction in psychometric efficiency. The DQ is independent of the age of onset and the time during which the Parkinson's disease had been present, whether it has been treated or not, the type of treatment, the period during which L-Dopa therapy had been given and the age of the patient when it was started, and the existence or absence of electro-encephalographic abnormalities. There is a positive significant correlation, however, between the degree of psychometric deterioration and the severity of the Parkinson's disease. Acute confusional states are not seen more frequently in patients treated with L-Dopa than in those receiving other therapy, and in the same way, their frequency is not increased in long-standing cases or in those receiving L-Dopa therapy over a long period. The mean DQ is higher in patients who have had acute confusional episodes, and bilateral akinetic forms have a greatly increased risk of associating psychometric deterioration and the development of acute confusional states.