A-217 Associations among Symptom Validity Tests in Combat Veterans

Abstract Objective The Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory (NSI) is a 22-item self-report measure of non-specific cognitive and somatic symptoms, which contains an embedded measure of symptom validity (Validity 10 scale [V-10]). The mild brain injury atypical symptom (mBIAS) is a separate 5-item measure of symptom validity designed for use in mild traumatic brain injury evaluation. The current study evaluated the NSI V-10 and mBIAS in relation to the Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology (SIMS) Total score and subtest scores. Method Participants were 338 veterans who completed a parent study at a VA Medical Center. All participants deployed to Iraq and/or Afghanistan, did not have a history of moderate or severe traumatic brain injury, and did not have significant neurological or psychiatric conditions. Participants completed the SIMS and the NSI with mBIAS as part of a larger battery. The sample was 86% male and 57% White, with a mean age of 42 years and education of 15 years. Results AUC values using a higher SIMS Total cutoff score were .887 for the V-10 and .735 for the mBIAS; diagnostic accuracy data at various cutoff scores are presented. For SIMS subscales, the mBIAS had higher correlations to the Psychosis (r = .48) and Low Intelligence (r = .31) scales, whereas the V-10 had higher correlations to the Neurologic Impairment (r = .73), Amnestic Disorders (r = .66), and Affective Disorders (r = .59) scales. Conclusion Current data suggest that the V-10 and mBIAS measure different symptom validity constructs and could therefore be employed in a complimentary manner.