Detection of malingering in mild traumatic brain injury with the Conners' Continuous Performance Test–II

Abstract

Classification accuracy for the detection of malingered neurocognitive dysfunction (MND) in mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) is examined for two selected measures from the Conners' Continuous Performance Test–II (CPT–II) using criterion-groups validation. Individual and joint classification accuracies are presented for Omissions and Hit Reaction Time Standard Error across a range of scores comparing mild TBI malingering (n = 27), mild TBI not-malingering (n = 31), and moderate-to-severe (M/S) TBI not-malingering (n = 24) groups. At cutoffs associated with at least 95% specificity in both mild and M/S TBI, sensitivity to MND in mild TBI was 30% for Omissions, 41% for Hit Reaction Time Standard Error, and 44% using both indicators. These results support the use of the CPT–II as a reliable indicator for the detection of malingering in TBI when used as part of a comprehensive diagnostic system.

Keywords:

• Response bias
• Malingering
• Traumatic brain injury
• Neuropsychological assessment
• Continuous performance task
• Attention