Reconsidering the Word Memory Test as a Memory Measure in Traumatic Brain Injury.

Abstract

This study examined relationships among traumatic brain injury (TBI) severity, the Word Memory Test (WMT), and California Verbal Learning Test-Second Edition (CVLT-II). Participants (N=104) passed WMT validity indices and were categorized by TBI severity on the basis of medical records. Outcome measures included norm-referenced scores on the CVLT-II and WMT. Participants grouped by TBI severity significantly differed on the CVLT-II but not WMT. Post-traumatic amnesia (PTA) significantly correlated with the CVLT-II but not WMT. In a non-medicolegal sample subset (N=61), TBI severity groups significantly differed on CVLT-II and WMT FR; PTA significantly correlated with the CVLT-II and WMT FR. CVLT-II impairment groups differed onall WMT variables. Participants grouped by neuroimaging findings differed on CVLT-II but not WMT. WMT FR predicted two-level TBI severity using logistic regression but did not contribute in a model including the CVLT-II. Overall, WMT memory subtests appeared less sensitive to TBI severity than the CVLT-II.