The new Swedish Post-Concussion Symptoms questionnaire: a measure of symptoms after mild traumatic brain injury and its concurrent validity and inter-rater reliability.
OBJECTIVE
To study the concurrent validity and the inter-rater reliability of the Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire.


METHODS
The approach was to study the concurrent validity of the Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire when used as an interview questionnaire compared with a self-report questionnaire administered by the patients. The inter-rater reliability was also studied when 2 different raters administered the Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire interview.


METHODS
Thirty-five patients with mild traumatic brain injury were consecutively contacted by telephone and asked whether they would be willing to participate in a follow-up intervention.


METHODS
The Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire was completed by the patients, who answered "Yes" or "No" to the standardized questions. The patients were then interviewed to check the certain "Yes" or "No" answers, 0-10 days after having completed the first Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire. The raters filled in their ratings independently.


RESULTS
The concurrent validity of answers in the questionnaire compared with those in the interview ranged from 82% to 100% agreement. The inter-rater reliability results ranged from 93% to 100% agreement between the raters.


CONCLUSIONS
The Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire with answers of "Yes" or "No" is a valid instrument. High reliability was found between the raters.
Rehabilitation Medicine, From the Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Göteborg, Sweden. elisabeth.elgmark@hhj.hj.se
Elisabeth
E
Elgmark Andersson
Ingrid
I
Emanuelson
Margareta
M
Olsson
Daniel
D
Stålhammar
Jan-Erik
JE
Starmark
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D038223:Post-Concussion Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D013548:Sweden