Credibility of neuropsychological performances of Persian Gulf War veterans and military control subjects participating in clinical epidemiological research.
Author: Barrash J, Denburg NL, Moser DJ, Woolson RF, Schumacher AJ, Doebbeling BN
Source:
Military medicine, 172(7), 697-707.
We investigated whether Persian Gulf War veterans (GWVs) were more likely than
Persian Gulf War-era veterans deployed elsewhere (GEVs) to have noncredible
neuropsychological examinations. A total of 301 GWVs and 99 GEVs underwent
neuropsychological testing. The credibility of 173 examinations showing
impairment was evaluated based on test performances, clinical background,
psychometric measures, and other self-report datAll 11 examinations judged
less than fully credible by one neuropsychologist, plus 19 examinations judged
impaired but credible, were then evaluated independently by two more
neuropsychologists. Noncredibility was judged with excellent reliability (93%
agreement). Seven examinations were judged noncredible. Rates of noncredibility
did not differ between GWVs (1%) and GEVs (4%). The pattern of associations of
noncredible examinations with cognitive, psychological, and clinical variables
generally indicated defective neuropsychological scores, with no coherent
pattern, and personality disorder. Findings supported the validity of
noncredibility judgments and suggested that noncredible examinations are not a
significant problem in neuropsychological investigations of GWVs.