Misdiagnosis of the persistent postconcussion syndrome in patients with depression

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the prevalence of postconcussion-like symptoms in patients with depression. Participants were 64 physician-diagnosed inpatients or outpatients with depression who had independently-confirmed diagnoses on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. All completed the British Columbia Postconcussion Symptom Inventory, a 16-item measure designed to assess the frequency and severity of symptoms based on ICD-10 criteria for postconcussion syndrome. Specific endorsement rates of postconcussion-like symptoms ranged from 31.2% to 85.6% for symptoms rated mild or greater, and from 10.9% to 57.8% for symptoms rated moderate-to-severe. Approximately 9 out of 10 patients with depression met liberal self-report criteria for a postconcussion syndrome and more than 5 out of 10 met conservative criteria for the diagnosis. Implications for forensic neuropsychology will be discussed.