Self-perception in mild traumatic brain injury

Objective: The objectives of this study were (1) to describe a procedure for measuring preinjury and postinjury symptoms, (2) to compare these symptoms with normal controls and individuals with non-head related traumas, (3) to describe patterns in persistent symptomatology after mild traumatic brain injury, and (4) to document trends in self-perception as measured by retrospective ratings of symptoms after trauma. Design: A total of 102 individuals with mild traumatic brain injury and 69 individuals with non-head-related traumas completed preinjury and postinjury symptom questionnaires 1 wk after trauma. Symptoms were compared with 115 normal controls. Three months after injury, a subgroup of the mild traumatic brain injury group completed symptom questionnaires again. A factor analysis and subsequent discriminant function analysis of the symptoms differentiated the groups. Results: Retrospective ratings of preinjury symptoms by the two trauma groups were significantly less than the normal controls, implying misattribution. Most symptoms were somatic at 1 wk postinjury in both trauma groups. At 3 mo, the mild traumatic brain injury group endorsed more recall symptoms. Conclusions: The procedure was useful in differentiating groups by symptom patterns and increasing our knowledge of persistent symptomatology after mild traumatic brain injury. Misattribution, the unrealistic self-perception of symptoms after the event of a trauma, was detected in both the head and non-head trauma groups.