Abstract

VILAR LOPEZ, Raquel; APARICIO, Mónica; GOMEZ RIO, Manuel  and  PEREZ GARCIA, Miguel. Usefulness of verbal memory indexes to detect malingering in Spanish populations. Clínica y Salud [online]. 2013, vol.24, n.3, pp.169-176. ISSN 2174-0550.  https://dx.doi.org/10.5093/cl2013a18.

Introduction. Although international literature has demonstrated the usefulness of different traditional neuropsychological verbal memory indexes to detect malingered cognitive deficits, no study has been conducted in Spain with such a purpose yet. Methodology. The present study included 84 patients divided into four groups: three groups of mild traumatic brain injury patients (30 patients who do not request an economic compensation, 14 participants who requested an economic compensation but are not suspected of malingering, and 10 participants suspected of malingering according to different malingering tests), and a group of 30 analogues. All participants completed an extensive neuropsychological battery including the Test de Aprendizaje Verbal España Complutense (Spanish version of the California Verbal Learning Test) and several malingering tests (Victoria Symptom Validity Test, Test of Memory Malingering, Dot Counting Test, the b Test and the Rey 15-item Test). Results. Significant differences were found between the groups of the study for all indexes, with large effect sizes. With a specificity of at least 90%, some of the indexes from the TAVEC showed adequate sensitivity to detect malingering: total number of words recalled in the five trials, short-term memory, and recognition, which obtained a sensitivity of 50%, long-term memory (40%), and discriminability index (60%). Conclusions. Some of the TAVEC indexes demonstrated efficacy in detecting malingering. However, they should never be employed or interpreted in isolation.

Keywords : Malingering; Insufficient effort/motivation; TAVEC; Neuropsychological assessment.

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