• Shannon L Edmed and Karen A Sullivan.
• Clinical Neuropsychology Research Group, School of Psychology and Counselling, Queensland University of Technology , Brisbane , Australia and.
• Brain Inj. 2014 Jan 1; 28 (10): 1277-82.

Primary ObjectiveTo investigate whether assessment method influences the type of post-concussion-like symptoms.Methods And ProceduresParticipants 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 ResultsIn 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%).ConclusionsPrevious 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.

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