Abstract
Primary objective: To investigate whether assessment method influences the type of post-concussion-like symptoms.
Methods and procedures: Participants were 73 Australian undergraduate students (Mage = 24.14, SD = 8.84; 75.3% female) with no history of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Participants reported symptoms experienced over the previous 2 weeks in response to an open-ended question (free report), mock interview and standardized checklist (British Columbia Post-concussion Symptom Inventory; BC-PSI).
Main outcomes and results: In the free report and checklist conditions, cognitive symptoms were reported significantly less frequently than affective (free report: p < 0.001; checklist: p < 0.001) or somatic symptoms (free report: p < 0.001; checklist: p = 0.004). However, in the mock structured interview condition, cognitive and somatic symptoms were reported significantly less frequently than affective symptoms (both p < 0.001). No participants reported at least one symptom from all three domains when assessed by free report, whereas most participants did so when symptoms were assessed by a mock structured interview (75%) or checklist (90%).
Conclusions: Previous studies have shown that the method used to assess symptoms affects the number reported. This study shows that the assessment method also affects the type of reported symptoms.
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge Jim Oxtoby for his assistance with statistical analyses. The Human Research Ethics Committee of Queensland University of Technology (QUT-HREC #1000000311) approved this research. This project was granted an occupational workplace health and safety clearance.