Clinical Utility of WAIS-IV Matrix Reasoning Among Adult Low Educated Recent Immigrants; A Note of Caution

OBJECTIVE: To examine the clinical utility of Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV (WAIS-IV) Matrix Reasoning in limited educated recently arrived immigrants in Denmark.

METHOD: Participants were 64 limited educated (0-9 years' education) independently living adult immigrants primarily from Middle Eastern and Sub-Saharan African countries who completed WAIS-IV Matrix Reasoning as well as demographic, and medical questionnaires.

RESULTS: Thirty-eight participants (59%) scored more than two standard deviations below the Scandinavian mean (scaled score < 4). Performances were significantly associated with years of education but not with occupational status, years of residence in Denmark, or Danish language skills. The most common error types were repetition errors (15.84%) and incomplete correlate errors (10.47%), with a strong trend for a higher proportion of repetition errors in participants with <5 years of education.

CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that WAIS-IV Matrix Reasoning underestimates cognitive functioning in limited educated recently arrived immigrants, thus calling its clinical utility into question.