The Utility of the Post-concussive Symptom Questionnaire

Abstract

The Post-concussive Symptom Questionnaire (PCSQ) and its short forms were evaluated to determine their utility in measuring symptom validity as brief self-report measures in 112 individuals referred for a neuropsychological evaluation. First, the relationships between the PCSQ forms and measures of cognitive performance (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition Full-Scale IQ, California Verbal Learning Test-Second Edition Trials 1-5 Total T-score, Trails B, FAS), general distress (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory [MMPI]-2 M8), and self-report symptom validity (MMPI-2 FBS Symptom Validity Scale [FBS] and Response Bias Scale [RBS]) were investigated to determine construct validity. Measures of self-report symptom validity explained the greatest amount of variance. Second, receiver operating characteristics curve analyses were conducted to determine the predictive value of the PCSQ forms in detecting over reporting on the FBS and the RBS in addition to establishing optimal cutoff scores. On the basis of the proposed cutoff scores, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive power, negative predictive power, and hit rates were calculated.