[Dementia and the Dutch Reading Tests for Adults].

The Dutch Adult Reading Test (DART) is a method to assess premorbid intelligence in brain damaged patients. This article describes a study in which subjects without dementia (n = 25), with mild dementia (n = 11) and moderate to severe dementia (n = 11) were tested with the DART. DART-scores of the no dementia and mild dementia groups did not differ, but were significantly lower in moderate to severe dementia. So, the DART appears to be sensitive to more severe cerebral pathology as occurs in more advanced dementia, but is very useful with patients with mild cognitive deterioration. For the first time the test-retest-reliability of the DART was determined: r = 0.87 to 0.98. Except in the severe dementia group the DART strongly correlates with educational level.