Intelligence quotient and its determinants using Draw-A-Person Test and Ravens progressive matrices among primary school children in Enugu, Southeast Nigeria

Background The intelligence quotient of a child is determined to a large extent by genetic factors. However, the social context in which a child is brought up also plays a significant role in the overall cognitive capabilities of the child. Patients and methods This cross-sectional descriptive study enrolled 1122 school-aged children between the ages 6 and 12 years in the Enugu-East local government area of Enugu State over a 3-month period using the multistage sampling method. Raven’s Standardized Progressive Matrices and the Draw-A-Person Test (DAPT) were used to assess the intelligence quotient of the study participants. It aimed to assess the relatability of the two intelligent quotient (IQ) assessment system and sociodemographic determinants of IQ in school pupils. Results With the Raven system of IQ assessment, 73 pupils (7.6%) were noted to be above average intelligence, 150 (15.7%) had above average intelligence, 293 (30.6%) were considered to have average intelligence, while 340 (35.5%) and 101 (10.6%) were below average and intellectually defective, while the DAPT system categorized 258 of the pupils surveyed (27%) as having above average intelligence, 593 (62%) were considered to have average intelligence, while 82 (8.6%) and 24 (2.4%) were considered mentally deficient, respectively. Both scoring systems showed slight agreement with an interagreement reliability coefficient (қ) of 0.093 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.001–0.003]. Pupils’ socioeconomic class [odds ratio (OR) 1.82 (95% CI 1.21–2.73), P=0.004], maternal educational [OR 0.38 (95% CI 0.23–0.63) P=0.001], and school type [OR 2.23 (95% CI 1.45–3.43) P=0.001] significantly predicted suboptimal IQ in study participants under the Raven assessment system. Conclusion Our study identified poor interrater agreement between the Raven and DAPT IQ assessment systems and factors that correlate with suboptimal IQ under the Raven system of IQ assessment.