Western Aphasia Battery–Revised (WAB-R)
A comprehensive language battery that profiles aphasia type and severity.
By Claire White
- Clinician-administered. Part 1 takes 30 to 45 minutes; Part 2 adds 45 to 60 minutes.
- Part 1 covers spontaneous speech, auditory comprehension, repetition, and naming, and yields the Aphasia Quotient.
- The Aphasia Quotient (AQ) runs from 0 to 100; scores of 93.8 or above indicate no aphasia.
- A 15-minute bedside screener is available for acute settings.
Psychometrics
Aphasia Quotient coefficients from Shewan and Kertesz (1980). Higher is better.
What does the WAB-R measure?
The WAB-R assesses all major language modalities: spontaneous speech (information content and fluency), auditory comprehension, repetition, and naming. Scores on these four areas combine to produce the Aphasia Quotient (AQ). The battery also tests reading, writing, and praxis to produce a Language Quotient (LQ) and Cortical Quotient (CQ).
What does a WAB-R score mean?
The Aphasia Quotient runs from 0 to 100, where higher is better. A score of 93.8 or above falls outside the aphasia range. Below that, research commonly groups scores into four severity bands.
| Aphasia Quotient | Severity |
|---|---|
| 93.8 and above | Outside the aphasia range |
| 76 to 93.7 | Mild |
| 51 to 75 | Moderate |
| 26 to 50 | Severe |
| 0 to 25 | Very severe |
The score is reference information for the care team, tracked over time. Two limits are worth stating plainly. The Aphasia Quotient leaves out reading and writing entirely, so it can miss mild impairment, and the band alone does not name the type of aphasia. The pattern across the four subtests does that.
How the WAB-R is administered
- Administered by
- A speech-language pathologist or trained clinician
- Time to administer
- Part 1, 30 to 45 min. Part 2, a further 45 to 60 min. Bedside screener, 15 min.
- Equipment
- Test manual, record form, and the stimulus book
- Cost
- Free to take here.
- Published by
- Pearson
- Training required
- No certification. Familiarity with the manual's scoring criteria.
- Remote administration
- Validated by videoconference
- Age range
- Adults
Which conditions is the WAB-R used for?
Related instruments
- Mississippi Aphasia Screening Test (MAST)A 5 to 10 minute screen when the full battery is too long
- Frenchay Aphasia Screening Test (FAST)Bedside screening in acute stroke
- Philadelphia Naming Test (PNT)Naming in depth, with error-type analysis
- Communicative Effectiveness Index (CETI)Everyday communication, rated by a partner
WAB-R questions, answered
How long does the WAB-R take?
Part 1, the oral language section that produces the Aphasia Quotient, takes 30 to 45 minutes. Part 2 adds reading, writing, praxis, and construction and takes a further 45 to 60 minutes. Many clinicians administer Part 1 alone when they only need the Aphasia Quotient. The bedside screener takes about 15 minutes.
What is the WAB-R bedside form?
A short version for acute settings, for people who cannot sit through the full battery. It samples the same core language areas and gives the care team a first read while the person is still in hospital.
What does an Aphasia Quotient of 72 mean?
72 sits in the moderate band, between 51 and 75. In practice that describes someone whose speech carries real information but breaks down under load, who follows most conversation but loses complex instructions, and who gropes for words. The number on its own does not name the type of aphasia; the profile across the four subtests does. Two people can both score 72 and present very differently, which is why the subtest pattern is reported alongside the total.
How is the Aphasia Quotient calculated?
From the four Part 1 subtests. Spontaneous speech is scored out of 20, and auditory comprehension, repetition, and naming are each converted to a score out of 10. Those four are summed and doubled, giving a maximum of 100. Because only these four contribute, reading and writing performance does not move the Aphasia Quotient at all.
Which types of aphasia does the WAB-R classify?
Eight. Global, Broca's, Wernicke's, conduction, anomic, transcortical motor, transcortical sensory, and isolation.
Can the WAB-R be done over video?
Yes. Scores from videoconference administration are comparable to in-person testing.
Does the WAB-R diagnose aphasia?
No. It profiles language and produces reference information. Diagnosis stays with your clinician.
Evidence, psychometrics and provenance
Created by Andrew Kertesz. The Aphasia Quotient and the eight-type taxonomy were introduced in 1974, the battery published in 1982, and the revised WAB-R in 2006.
- Inter-rater agreement
- Excellent across subtests (Shewan and Kertesz, 1980)
- Long-term stability
- r 0.99 over one year (Kertesz and McCabe, 1977)
References
- 1.Kertesz A. Western Aphasia Battery. New York: Grune & Stratton; 1982.
- 2.Shewan CM, Kertesz A. Reliability and validity characteristics of the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB). J Speech Hear Disord. 1980;45(3):308-324.
- 3.Kang EK, et al. Severity of post-stroke aphasia according to aphasia type and lesion location in Koreans. J Korean Med Sci. 2010;25(1):123-127.
- 4.Kertesz A, McCabe P. Recovery patterns and prognosis in aphasia. Brain. 1977;100(Pt 1):1-18.
- 5.Dekhtyar M, Braun EJ, Billot A, Foo L, Kiran S. Videoconference administration of the Western Aphasia Battery-Revised: feasibility and validity. Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2020;29(2):673-687.
This assessment uses a validated instrument and is reference information, not a diagnosis.