The impact of seizure-related items and comorbid medical conditions on the MMPI-2 profiles of patients with epilepsy and psychogenic nonepileptic seizures.
This study examined the impact of seizure-related items and selected comorbid medical conditions on Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, Second Edition (MMPI-2), Scales 1 and 3 and the psychogenic nonepileptic seizure (PNES) profile [Wilkus RJ, Dodrill CB, Thompson PM. Intensive EEG monitoring and psychological studies of patients with pseudoepileptic seizures. Epilepsia 1984;25:100-7] in patients with epileptic seizures (ES) and PNES. Sixty patients with a long-term video/EEG monitoring diagnosis of either ES (N=30) or PNES (N=30) and valid MMPI-2 profiles were included in this study. MMPI-2 seizure-related items [Derry PA, Harnadeck MCS, McLachlan RS, Sontrop J. Influence of seizure content on interpreting psychopathology on the MMPI-2 in patients with epilepsy. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 1997;19:396-404] were removed to determine if their inclusion overpathologizes and/or misclassifies patients with epilepsy. Removal of seizure-related items did not result in any clinically meaningful changes in MMPI-2 profiles for patients with ES. The presence of comorbid medical conditions was not associated with greater Scale 1 or 3 scores or the likelihood of a PNES profile in either group. Results suggest that clinical elevations on MMPI-2 profiles may not be explained by the presence of seizures or comorbid medical conditions.
Department of Graduate Psychology, Seattle Pacific University, 3307 3rd Avenue West, Suite 107, Seattle, WA 98119, USA. russeh@spu.edu
Hillary
H
Russell
Erica L
EL
Coady
Naomi
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Chaytor
D000328:Adult; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008950:MMPI; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000523:psychology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014741:Video Recording / Q000379:methods; D055815:Young Adult