Subjective cognitive complaints and neuropsychological test performance following military-related traumatic brain injury

1
Subjective cognitive complaints and
neuropsychological test performancefollowing
military-related traumatic brain injury

• Louis M. French, PsyD Rael T. Lange, PhD Tracey
  Brickell, PysD

2

• Aim
• Examine relation between neuropsychological test
  performance and self-reported cognitive
  complaints following traumatic brain injury
  (TBI).
• Relevance
• TBI care focuses on ameliorating self-reported
  symptoms, modifying environmental factors, and
  improving clinician-observed deficits.
• However, limitations of self-reported symptoms
  could reduce reliability of this information.

3
Method

• Participants
• 109 U.S. servicemembers.
• Completed neuropsychological evaluation within
  first 2 yr following mildsevere TBI.
• Measures
• Personality Assessment Inventory.
• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptom
  Checklist-Civilian version.
• Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory.
• 17 measures corresponding to memory, attention/
  concentration, and processing speed/organization.

4
Results

• Self-reported cognitive complaints
• Significantly correlated with psychological
  distress.
• Not significantly correlated with overall
  neurocognitive functioning.
• Low agreement between neurocognitive test scores
  and self-reported cognitive complaints.
• For large minority of sample, self-reported
  cognitive complaints were reported in presence of
  neurocognitive test scores within normal limits.

5
Conclusion

• While self-reported cognitive complaints were not
  associated with neurocognitive test performance,
  they were associated with psychological distress.
  
• These results provide information to
  contextualize cognitive complaints following TBI.