title: A UK pilot study: the specificity of the Word Memory Test effort sub-tests in acute minimal to mild head injury.
abstract: The specificity of the Word Memory Test (WMT) effort indices was examined in 48 individuals with minimal to mild head injury (MHI) in the acute stages post-injury. None of the individuals was involved in litigation or disability claims. At the established cut-offs, the WMT had an unacceptable false-positive rate (18%). T test analysis was also carried out for WMT passers and failures on a battery of neuropsychometric measures and across a range of demographic variables. The WMT was performed at a significantly lower level on the Wechsler Memory Scale-III word list sub-tests and verbal fluency tests (p < .05). This suggests that WMT failure may be indicative of a specific deficit in verbal processing in the acute phase of MHI.
authors.affiliation: Forensic Psychology Practice Ltd, West Midlands, UK.
authors.forename: Vicki L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Worthington
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Venables
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008306:Malingering / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010865:Pilot Projects; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology; D014825:Vocabulary; D055815:Young Adult